EUROPA OIL & GAS (HOLDINGS) PLC – Award of UK Licences

Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc / Index: AIM / Epic: EOG / Sector: Oil & Gas

17 December 2015

Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc (‘Europa’ or ‘the Company’)

Award of Licences in 14th Landward Licensing Round

Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc, the AIM listed oil and gas exploration, development and production company focused on Europe, is pleased to note the announcement on 17 December 2015 by the Oil and Gas Authority, the UK oil and gas regulator, confirming the conditional award of licences in the 14th UK Landward Licensing Round.  To view a map of the new licences please click here.

Highlights

•   Awarded interest in three onshore licences building on the existing portfolio

•   New partner groups have a wealth of experience and resources

•   Europa assigned operatorship of one licence - Third Energy and Ineos operators of two of the other licences

Blocks SE72 and SE73

This is a two block licence located in the Humber Area, north of Goole in the Cleveland Basin. The Group has identified three conventional hydrocarbon leads in the Carboniferous section. The licence is considered to host a north-westerly structural continuation of the oil prone Crosby Warren - Wressle trend where Europa Oil & Gas Limited operates the Crosby Warren oil field and is a partner in the recent Wressle oil discovery.  Block SE72 and SE73 partners are:

Block SK46c

This is a one block licence to the west of Mansfield in the East Midlands Petroleum Province. The exploration emphasis is the rejuvenation of the historic Hardstoft oil field, which was first drilled in 1919 and produced 26,000 barrels of oil from Dinantian Carbonates. The Company believes that a modern high angle well in the Hardstoft structure could access reserves over a much larger area than can have been seen by the original wells.

An independent Competent Person’s Report (“CPR”) prepared by Blackwatch Petroleum Services Limited (“Blackwatch”) on behalf of Upland Resources estimates there to be 3.10 MMbbl of contingent resource plus 3.65 MMbbl prospective resource in the broader Hardstoft structure alone, all sitting in Block SK46c and on a 'best' or central case basis. Blackwatch further estimates the chance of success for the contingent resource at 80% and 64% for the prospective resource.   Block SK46c partners are:

Reflecting the differing exploration emphases of the partners, the above interests will apply to all conventional oil and gas plays in the Block, Ineos will have all the rights and obligations relating to unconventional oil and gas plays ('shale gas' and 'shale oil'). Block SK36a will be 100% Ineos.

Blocks SE99a and TA09

This licence is located in the Cleveland Basin north of Scarborough. The primary objective is to appraise, with a view to develop, the Cloughton prospect, previously drilled by Bow Valley exploration well Cloughton-1 in 1986. The Cloughton-1 well had significant gas shows in Zechstein and Carboniferous sections and flowed gas from Carboniferous sandstones under production test. There are also technical synergies with block 41/24 in the nearby offshore and recently conditionally awarded to Europa and Arenite in the 28th Seaward Licensing Round second tranche of offers.  Block SE99a and TA09 partners are:

Europa CEO Hugh Mackay said, “We are delighted to build on our portfolio of UK onshore assets with the award of these three new licences.  The new awards comprise a mix of field rejuvenation, appraisal and exploration assets and build on our technical and commercial experience in the East Midlands and Cleveland Basin. Whilst the new blocks are predominantly prospective for conventional oil and gas there is some unconventional prospectivity. All our new licences have strong partner groups and we are excited by the opportunity to take these new assets forward.  

“As we advance our existing projects, including the commencement of production at the Wressle discovery in H2 2016 and the farm-out of FEL 3/13 offshore Ireland, where a CPR identified 1.49 billion barrels of oil equivalent across three prospects, it is important we replenish our portfolio with new leads and prospects which have significant reserve and production growth potential.  I look forward to providing further updates on our progress.” 

About our partners

Europa Oil & Gas Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of AIM-listed Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc and is an experienced and successful operator onshore UK. www.europaoil.com

Shale Petroleum (UK) Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Shale Petroleum Ltd, a successful and proactive, privately owned upstream oil & gas company registered in Canada. www.shalepetroleum.com

Ineos Upstream Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ineos, a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, speciality chemicals & oil products with sales of $54 billion and operations in 65 countries. www.ineos.com

Arenite Petroleum Limited is a privately owned upstream E&P company registered in Scotland www.arenitepetroleum.com

Egdon Resources plc is an independent onshore focused oil and gas exploration and production business www.egdon-resources.com/

Third Energy UK Gas Limited is an independent company with a focus on gas appraisal and development www.third-energy.com/

Petrichor Energy UK Limited is part of HEYCO Energy Group, a U.S. holding company with subsidiaries and affiliates active in upstream oil and gas operations in the US and Europe  www.heycoenergy.com http://www.heycoenergy.com/content/operations/international/

* * ENDS * *

For further information please visit www.europaoil.com or contact:

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 two licences offshore Ireland with the potential to host gross mean un-risked Prospective Resources of approximately 2 billion barrels across both licences. Europa Oil & Gas Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company.

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.