Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc /
Index: AIM / Epic: EOG / Sector: Oil & Gas
2 March 2016
Europa Oil &
Gas (Holdings) plc (‘Europa’ or ‘the Company’)
Three Large
Prospects Identified on New Licensing Option, Offshore
Ireland
Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc, the AIM listed oil and gas
exploration, development and production company focused on
Europe, is pleased to provide
further details regarding the recently awarded Licensing Option
16/2 (‘LO 16/2’) in the southern Porcupine Basin, offshore
Ireland, which includes three new
prospects mapped on 3D seismic with gross mean un-risked
prospective resources of 895 million barrels of oil equivalent
(‘boe’). As announced on 12 February
2016, Europa was awarded a 100% interest in LO 16/2 as part
of Phase 1 of the 2015 Atlantic Ireland Licensing Round.
- Europa has received written confirmation from the Department of
Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (‘DECNR’), that it has
been awarded a 100% interest in LO 16/2 for a period of two
years effective from 1 March
2016
- LO 16/2 comprises Blocks 54/3 and 54/8 and covers approximately
522 km2 of ground which adjoins the eastern boundary of
Frontier Exploration Licence 3/13 (‘FEL3/13’) in which Europa has a
100% interest
- Europa has identified three new pre-rift prospects in LO 16/2
which have combined gross mean un-risked prospective resources of
895 million boe
- The three new prospects were mapped on Europa’s proprietary 3D
seismic which was acquired in 2013
- The pre-rift play has proved very successful in the Flemish
Pass basin offshore Newfoundland
- Including LO 16/2 Europa now has a 100% interest in an
estimated three billion boe of gross mean unrisked prospective
resources across its licences/licensing options in the South Porcupine Basin - these include:
- 1.5 billion boe of gross mean unrisked prospective resources
identified across three Cretaceous prospects on FEL 3/13 which have
a potential mean Un-risked NPV10 of approximately US$7 billion as detailed in summary Competent
Persons Report (‘CPR’) by ERC Equipoise (“ERCE”) issued on
12 May 2015 and the NPV report of
26 October 2015, also by ERCE
- 595 million boe of gross mean unrisked prospective resources
identified across four prospects on FEL2/13,
- The next steps on LO 16/2 will be to invest further technical
work to mature the prospects to drillable status and deliver a CPR
later in 2016
- LO 16/2 will be included as part of the on-going farm-out of
FELs 2/13 and 3/13 due to the clear technical and commercial
synergies between LO 16/2 and FEL 3/13
- In Phase 1, 14 LOs were offered to eight companies: Eni,
Europa, ExxonMobil, Nexen, Scotia, Statoil and Woodside as
operators, along with BP who will partner with Eni – demonstrating
the growing interest in the basin among major oil companies
- DECNR has advised that there will be a second and final phase
of awards with a target date for announcement of mid-May. Europa
has made other licence applications which are being reviewed as
part of this second phase.
DECNR have published a map on their website showing the location
of the Licensing Options awarded in the first phase of awards in
the 2015 Atlantic Margin Licensing Round
(http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/natural-resources/SiteCollectionDocuments/Oil-and-Gas-Exploration-and-Production/Concession_Map_A3_Feb2016_LR.pdf).
Woodside Energy have been awarded a LO immediately to the south of
Europa’s FEL 3/13 and LO 16/2. The area to the north of these
blocks remains open and may be part of the second phase of awards
in mid-May.
Europa CEO Hugh Mackay said,
“This licence award provides four clear benefits to Europa: firstly
we have grown our acreage position in a basin that is now clearly
of interest to major oil companies; secondly we have diversified
our portfolio by adding three new pre-rift prospects to our
existing Cretaceous fan prospects; thirdly there is strong
technical and commercial synergies with our on-going farm-out of
FELs 2/13 and 3/13; and finally we already have 3D seismic over LO
16/2 which was acquired in 2013 as part of the carried work
programme previously performed on our behalf by Kosmos Energy and,
as a result, our technical work on the new licence is already very
advanced.
“At this early stage in the exploration of the Porcupine Basin,
we are particularly excited to have gained exposure to the pre-rift
play which has proved very successful in the Flemish Pass basin
offshore Newfoundland.
Together with the entry of major oil companies into the basin
these are exciting times for Europa. Clearly there is now a
much better appreciation of the prospectivity of the basin by the
global oil industry. However, to realise this potential we
need successful exploration drilling to take place in the
basin.
“Thanks to our 100% interest in FEL 2/13, FEL 3/13 and LO 16/2,
which have combined gross mean un-risked prospective resources of
approximately 3 billion boe, and a growing acreage position, Europa
is well placed to play its part in the opening of what could be a
major new hydrocarbon province. With this in mind, our focus
remains on landing a farm-in partner with whom to drill exploration
wells. At the same time we will invest further technical work
to mature the three pre-rift prospects to drillable status and
deliver a CPR to add to the one we already have over FEL 3/13.
I am very excited by this strategic addition to our Irish
acreage position and the arrival of a significant number of major
oil and gas companies in the Porcupine Basin and look forward to
providing further updates on our progress.”
* * ENDS * *
For further information please visit http://www.europaoil.com/
or contact:
Hugh Mackay |
Europa |
+ 44 (0) 20 7224 3770 |
Phil Greenhalgh |
Europa |
+ 44 (0) 20 7224 3770 |
Matt Goode |
finnCap Ltd |
+ 44 (0) 20 7220 0500 |
Simon Hicks |
finnCap Ltd |
+ 44 (0) 20 7220 0500 |
Frank Buhagiar |
St Brides Partners Ltd |
+ 44 (0) 20 7236 1177 |
Susie Geliher |
St Brides Partners Ltd |
+ 44 (0) 20 7236 1177 |
Notes
Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc has a diversified portfolio
of multi-stage hydrocarbon assets that includes production,
exploration and development interests, in countries that are
politically stable, have transparent licensing processes, and offer
attractive terms. In 2015 Europa produced 141 boepd.
Its highly prospective exploration projects include the Wressle
development (targeting production startup in H2 2016 at up to 500
bopd gross) in the UK; 100% owned gas exploration prospect (107
bcf) and appraisal project (CPR 277 bcf) in onshore France a joint venture with Vermillion Energy
also in onshore France; and three
licences offshore Ireland with the
potential to host gross mean un-risked Prospective Resources of
approximately 3 billion barrels across the three licences.
Qualified Person Review
This release has been reviewed by Hugh
Mackay, Chief Executive of Europa, who is a petroleum
geologist with 30 years' experience in petroleum exploration and a
member of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain, American Association of
Petroleum Geologists and Fellow of the Geological Society. Mr
Mackay has consented to the inclusion of the technical information
in this release in the form and context in which it appears.