Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc /
Index: AIM / Epic: EOG / Sector: Oil & Gas
18 July 2016
Europa Oil &
Gas (Holdings) plc (‘Europa’ or ‘the Company’)
Technical
Update on Licensing Option 16/19, 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
detailed technical information on the recently awarded Licensing
Option (‘LO’) 16/19. Europa has a 100% interest in, and is operator
of, seven licences in the Atlantic basins offshore Ireland including LO 16/19, which covers
976km2 in the highly prospective South Porcupine
Basin.
Highlights
- Potential for several Cretaceous submarine fans with a range of
300 million to 1 billion boe (‘barrels of oil equivalent’) gross
mean un-risked prospective resources
- Cretaceous submarine channels demonstrated to cross from
Europa’s adjacent FEL 2/13 licence and deposit submarine fans in LO
16/19
- Strategy to expedite exploration by securing a farm-in partner
with which to acquire 3D seismic over LO 16/19
- Increased activity with majors and super-majors already
shooting 3D seismic in the South Porcupine Basin during summer
2016
Europa CEO Hugh Mackay said,
“Europa has a deep technical understanding of the Cretaceous fan
play in the Porcupine Basin and has insights that allowed us to map
submarine fans in LO 16/19 fed directly by submarine channels in
FEL 2/13. There is strong technical and commercial synergy with our
existing licences in FEL 2/13, FEL 3/13 and LO 16/2 and we can
immediately include this award in the data room for the ongoing
farm-out of these licences. The entry of majors and super-majors
into the basin is already having an impact: Woodside Energy have
completed acquiring 3D seismic in the South Porcupine Basin and we
understand that CGG is currently shooting a multi-client 3D seismic
survey in the South Porcupine and Goban Spur areas. Europa has
prime acreage in what is clearly an exploration hotspot and we look
forward to developments with great interest.”
A map can be found on Europa’s website detailing the location of
all seven of Europa’s offshore Ireland licences. Please click on the
link below or copy and paste this into your browser:
http://www.europaoil.com/documents/160607EuropaIrishLicences_002.pdf.
An updated concession map for Ireland can be found on the DCENR website at:
http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/natural-resources/SiteCollectionDocuments/Oil-and-Gas-Exploration-and-Production/A0_Concession_Map_Jul2016.pdf
Further Information
LO 16/19, which was awarded to Europa as part of Phase 2 of the
2015 Atlantic Ireland licensing round (see announcements of 3 June
and 8 June 2016), is covered by over
1,800km of historic 2D seismic data. Preliminary mapping of
the 2D seismic by Europa suggests that there are potentially a
number of submarine fans developed in the licence with a combined
range of 300 million to 1 billion boe gross mean un-risked
prospective resources.
LO 16/19 lies directly to the east of, and is contiguous with,
Europa’s 100% owned and operated Frontier Exploration Licence
(‘FEL’) 2/13 over which a 948km2 3D seismic survey was
acquired in 2013. Detailed geological and geophysical
interpretation by Europa of the 3D data provided the crucial
technical insights supporting the Company’s application for LO
16/19.
FEL 2/13 contains a number of Cretaceous submarine channels that
cross the licence from west to east and that feed submarine fans
developed in LO 16/19. The seismic architecture of the
channels in FEL 2/13 contain features consistent with sandstone
deposition and Europa believes that these sandstones are also
deposited in the fans in LO 16/19. In addition, there is
evidence of gas escape features on seismic and sea bed pock marks
suggesting the presence of an active source rock. BP well
43/13-1 drilled in 1998 approximately 20km from LO 16/19 contains
oil shows and encountered source rocks.
Cretaceous fans have been clearly identified on 3D seismic by
Europa in the Company’s 100% owned FEL 3/13 and they are also the
objective for other oil companies active in the South Porcupine
basin. Cretaceous fans have the potential to hold substantial
volumes of oil. The combined audited gross mean un-risked
prospective resources in Cretaceous fans in three prospects in FEL
3/13 identified in a Competent Persons Report by ERCE Equipoise
(see announcement of 12 May 2015) is
1.5 billion boe. Prospective Resources are those quantities
of petroleum which are estimated, on a given date, to be
potentially recoverable from undiscovered accumulations.
The duration of LO 16/19 is two years, effective from
1 June 2016. Following the
completion of a work programme, Europa has the option to apply to
the Irish authorities for their consent to convert the LO into a
full Frontier Exploration Licence (‘FEL’).
During the period of the Licensing Option Europa will further
mature the prospect inventory and will seek a farm-in partner with
which to convert to an FEL, acquire a 3D seismic survey and in due
course drill an exploration well (subject to a positive technical
and commercial outcome from the 3D seismic programme).
Europa’s experience in the basin leads the directors to believe
that 3D seismic will profoundly change the prospect inventory and a
positive outcome may not only provide greater clarity on prospect
mapping and volumetrics, but may also substantially de-risk the
prospects. In addition other operators are also exploring for
Cretaceous fans in the basin and any exploration drilling success
in the Cretaceous fan play elsewhere in the basin has the potential
to further de-risk the prospects in all of Europa’s South Porcupine
licences.
Atlantic basin portfolio
Europa has seven licences in three basins in the Atlantic basins
offshore Ireland. The combined
gross mean un-risked prospective and indicative resources of more
than 4 billion boe and 1.5 tcf gas.
|
|
|
|
|
gross mean un-risked prospective and indicative
resources |
Licence |
Europa
equity |
area km2 |
Basin |
Term |
Oil
millon boe |
Gas
TCF |
FEL
2/13 |
100% operator |
768 |
South Porcupine |
Phase 1 of 15 yr |
595 |
|
FEL
3/13 |
100% operator |
782 |
South Porcupine |
Phase 1 of 15 yr |
1,500 |
|
LO
16/2 |
100% operator |
523 |
South Porcupine |
2 yr |
895 |
|
LO
16/19 |
100% operator |
976 |
South Porcupine |
2 yr |
700 |
|
LO
16/20 |
100% operator |
945 |
Slyne Basin |
3 yr |
|
1 |
LO
16/21 |
100% operator |
832 |
Slyne Basin |
3 yr |
|
0.5 |
LO
16/22 |
100% operator |
992 |
Padraig |
3 yr |
500 |
|
|
total |
5,818 |
|
|
4,190 |
1.5 |
* * 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 start-up 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 Vermilion Energy
also in onshore France; and seven
licences offshore Ireland with the
potential to host gross mean un-risked prospective and indicative
resources of more than 4 billion barrels oil equivalent and 1.5 tcf
gas across all seven 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.