To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of the 21st Century Exploration Roadmap Palaeozoic Project on the exploitation of viable oil and gas deposits under the UK Continental Shelf; and if he will make a statement.

The information which has emerged from the 21st Century Exploration Roadmap Palaeozoic Project has helped incentivise further interest in UK offshore areas and complemented existing knowledge and understanding by making additional geological data available to the industry .

21st Century Roadmap projects, of which the Palaeozoic Project is one, have contributed data and interpretations that have been used by the industry to inform licence applications in the Oil and Gas Authority’s 29th Frontier Licence round. It is expected that the findings from these projects will again prove impactful in the recently launched 31st Frontier Licence round.