Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) PLC Three New Large Prospects Identified Offshore Ireland

 
TIDMEOG 
 
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. 
 
 
 
END
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