Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) Plc AGM Statement

 
TIDMEOG 
 
Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc / Index: AIM / Epic: EOG / Sector: Oil & Gas 
 
11 December 2019 
 
          Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc ('Europa' or 'the Company') 
 
                       Annual General Meeting Statement 
 
Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc, the AIM quoted UK and Ireland-focussed oil and 
gas exploration and production company, is holding its Annual General Meeting 
('AGM') later today.  At the meeting, Simon Oddie, Interim Chief Executive 
Officer and Executive Chairman of Europa, will make the following statement: 
 
"The opening sentence of Europa Oil and Gas press releases describes us as an 
exploration and production company.  The exploration side is largely accounted 
for by a very high impact portfolio of offshore Ireland licences which combined 
have the potential to host gross mean un-risked prospective resources of 6.4 
billion barrels oil equivalent and 1.5 tcf gas.  The production side of the 
business is comprised of interests in three onshore fields in the U.K. East 
Midlands which, over the course of the last financial year, produced 91 boepd 
net to Europa and generated GBP1.7 million revenues.  Like all E&P companies, our 
aim is to move assets from exploration towards production via success with the 
drill bit, thereby scaling up revenues, increasing reserves and generating 
value for shareholders. 
 
"There is a third oil and gas category that lies between exploration and 
production: appraisal and development.  In general terms, risk associated with 
assets in this category is lower and revenues come sooner.  Our 30% interest in 
the Wressle discovery in East Lincolnshire is one such development project. 
Here a Public Inquiry into the proposed development of the Wressle oil field, 
which was discovered in 2014 by the Wressle-1 well, recently concluded. The 
results are expected post the UK general election on 12 December 2019 and if 
the ruling is favourable, Europa, along with its partners in the licence, will 
have a clear line of sight towards bringing Wressle into production in 2020. 
This would have a dramatic effect on Europa's production profile.  Under the 
proposed development plan, Wressle would commence production at an initial 
gross rate of 500 bopd, which would more than double Europa's existing UK 
onshore production to around 240 bopd. We are also actively seeking a further 
area in this part of the business in new basins in countries with low political 
and regulatory risk. 
 
"In Ireland, with technical work programmes completed across our licence base, 
our focus has been two-fold: securing suitable farm-in partners and completing 
site surveys to ensure we are in a position to drill wells at the earliest 
opportunity. Progress on both fronts has been slow to date.  This outcome ought 
perhaps, with hindsight, to be set against the context of the Irish 
Government's recent decision to phase out oil exploration licences in the 
future. Importantly, existing licences remain valid.  At the same time, the 
government continues to highlight the key role that gas will play as a 
transition fuel as Ireland looks to pivot towards renewable energy.  This is 
encouraging news for Inishkea, which is located close to the producing Corrib 
gas field in the Slyne Basin, and which we estimate has a one in three chance 
of holding 1.5tcf of gas.  We believe Inishkea has the potential to play an 
important role in helping to satisfy Ireland's future energy needs.  With 
farmout discussions continuing with a number of parties, it appears we are not 
alone. 
 
"We are delighted to have been awarded the Inezgane licence offshore Morocco in 
September 2019. As Inezgane lies in an under-explored basin where the key 
elements of a working hydrocarbon system in the Lower Cretaceous have been 
identified, the licence complements Europa's very high impact exploration 
portfolio. In terms of what we look for in an exploration licence, Morocco 
ticks all the boxes: it has an active oil and gas industry with ENI and Genel 
exploring just to the south of the licence; a supportive Government; good 
fiscal terms; and low entry costs.  Furthermore, 1,300 km2 of 3D seismic data 
have already been acquired over the acreage, which we intend to process during 
the initial two-year phase of the licence.  We are following the same model we 
applied to our offshore Ireland licences where we reprocessed 3,500 km2 in 
three seismic surveys offshore Ireland.  This generated an inventory of drill 
ready targets, each of which has company-making potential. The forward plan in 
Morocco is to reprocess and interpret data, build a prospect inventory and 
farmout to drill. 
 
"Securing a new appraisal/development asset, completing a farm-out for Inishkea 
with a view to drilling a well within 12 - 18 months of signing, advancing and 
de-risking Inezgane, and, bringing Wressle into production, subject to a 
favourable ruling, are key objectives for the year ahead.  Europa is in a 
position to deliver on multiple fronts thanks to the efforts of our first class 
technical, operational and management teams, which until recently were led by 
Hugh Mackay and we wish him well with his future endeavours. We look forward to 
building on our achievements to date and in the process delivering on our 
objective to generate value for all our shareholders." 
 
                                 * * ENDS * * 
 
For further information please visit www.europaoil.com or contact: 
 
Simon Oddie       Europa                        + 44 (0) 20 7224 
                                                3770 
 
Phil Greenhalgh   Europa                        + 44 (0) 20 7224 
                                                3770 
 
Christopher       finnCap Ltd                   + 44 (0) 20 7220 
Raggett                                         0500 
 
Simon Hicks       finnCap Ltd                   + 44 (0) 20 7220 
                                                0500 
 
Frank Buhagiar    St Brides Partners Ltd        + 44 (0) 20 7236 
                                                1177 
 
Megan Dennison    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 2019 Europa produced 91 boepd. Its 
highly prospective exploration projects include the Wressle development in the 
UK (targeting production start-up in 2020 at 500 bopd gross) and six licences 
offshore Ireland with the potential to host gross mean un-risked prospective 
resources of 6.4 billion barrels oil equivalent and 1.5 tcf gas across all six 
licences. The Company's flagship project offshore Ireland is the Inishkea 
prospect - a near field gas exploration project with 1.5 trillion cubic feet 
('TCF') gross mean un-risked prospective gas resources. 
 
Qualified Person Review 
 
This release has been reviewed by Simon Oddie, Interim Chief Executive and 
Executive Chairman of Europa, who is a petroleum engineer with 40 years' 
experience in petroleum engineering and a member of the Society of Petroleum 
Engineers, the Energy Institute and the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great 
Britain. Mr Oddie has consented to the inclusion of the technical information 
in this release in the form and context in which it appears. 
 
 
 
END
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 11, 2019 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
Europa Oil & Gas (holdin... (LSE:EOG)
Graphique Historique de l'Action
De Juin 2024 à Juil 2024