The UAE’s Ras al-Khaimah has announced the opening of a licensing round for some of its onshore and offshore concession areas, by way of a digital data room, in the emirate and London.

According to a statement on the website of state exploration and production firm RAK Gas that was carried by the UAE’s official Emirates News Agency (WAM), the data room will be open until early July, following which there will be a three-month period during which interested companies can submit bids for acreage ownership. Contract awards are expected in October.

According to the statement, the licensing round follows a review by RAK Gas of the sub-surface prospects of its onshore and offshore assets. A 3D seismic programme spanning about 2,000 square kilometres of the offshore acreage was undertaken last month and is due to continue until early February.

According to RAK Gas, the emirate’s complex geology offers valuable exploration opportunities, with the geological formations of the prospective assets similar to the cretaceous carbonates found in Ras al-Khaimah’s offshore Saleh field. The oil field, operated by Norway’s DNO and controlled by RAK Petroleum, is now in a stage of swift depletion.