Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc /
Index: AIM / Epic: EOG / Sector: Oil & Gas
13 December 2017
Europa Oil &
Gas (Holdings) plc (‘Europa’ or ‘the Company’)
Technical
Update on LO16/20 Offshore
Ireland
Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc, the UK and Ireland focussed exploration, development and
production company, is pleased to announce an update on its 100%
owned Licensing Option (‘LO’) 16/20 in the Slyne basin, offshore
Ireland which lies adjacent to the
producing Corrib gas field (‘Corrib’). The Company has mapped
a number of significant structures at LO 16/20 which are
potentially gas bearing and the Board believes that these could
contain in excess of 2.5 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas in place
combined. Work is in progress to estimate the prospective resources
arising from this gas in place and these are anticipated to be
significantly more than the 1 tcf prospective resources (1.4 tcf
gas in place) previously mapped on the licence.
This update follows technical work carried out by Europa on
legacy 3D seismic and on data recently released from the 18/20-7
exploration well drilled by Royal Dutch
Shell in 2010 (‘the Well’) into Corrib North, a Triassic
sandstone reservoir prospect located on LO 16/20. Log data
from the Well suggests the presence of gas at Corrib North which is
a separate anticline some 7km north of the Corrib gas field.
- The Well penetrated a 70m gas
column in the same Triassic sandstone reservoir as the Corrib
field, but as it was terminated in the reservoir, the gas column is
a “gas down to”
- Based on mapping, Europa believes the full gas column at Corrib
North has the potential to be 170m
thick and the surface area of the structure to be
5.75km2
- The presence of a gas reservoir substantially de-risks Corrib
North and other significant undrilled prospective gas-bearing
structures on the licence, including the Foyle, Foyle North and Foyle
West prospects ~16km north west of Corrib
- Europa believes in excess of 2 tcf of gas in place could be
contained within the three Foyle prospects
- Foyle’s burial history suggests that reservoir porosities may
be as good as if not better than the Corrib field
- A subsurface and production engineering consultancy has been
commissioned to provide estimates for gas in place, prospective
resources and possibly contingent resources for Corrib North in H1
2018
- The above technical work underpins the next steps on LO 16/20,
which will be to conduct Pre Stack Depth Migration (‘PSDM’)
reprocessing of the legacy 3D seismic data over the licence, mature
prospects to drillable prospect status and farm-out
Europa's CEO, Hugh Mackay, said:
“This work by Europa validates the early technical promise shown
when we made our licence application. The Foyle prospects in
particular have stood up to detailed scrutiny and mapping indicates
a gas in place in excess of 2 tcf. In addition, we are
pleased to identify proven gas in Corrib North, which not only
significantly de-risks this structure, but also the Foyle
prospects. We are working with a subsurface and production
engineering consultancy and will update investors with estimates of
prospective and possibly contingent resources during H1 2018.
In addition, we are sufficiently encouraged to commit to
conducting PSDM reprocessing of the legacy 3D seismic and mature
the prospects to drillable prospect status.
“Whilst there is a popular conception that Atlantic Ireland is
deep water, high risk frontier exploration this is not true of the
Slyne Basin where the multiple prospects we have identified in LO
16/20 are mostly in relatively shallow water (400-600m) and represent lower risk exploration and
appraisal close to the producing Corrib gas field. LO16/20, along
with LO16/21 which is also located in the Slyne Basin, are a key
component of our industry-leading licence position offshore
Ireland. This includes seven licences that cover an area of
5,818 sq km, six play types, three basins and contain over 30
prospects and leads that potentially hold gross mean unrisked
prospective resources of 4.7 billion barrels of oil and 1.5 tcf of
gas.”
Further Information
In 2010 Shell drilled the 18/20-7 exploration well onto the
Corrib North structure in what is now LO 16/20. Corrib North is a
separate anticline some 7km north of the Corrib gas field. This
Well was recently released into the public domain and, having
studied the well data in detail, the Company believes the results
are considerably better than the well status of P&A with gas
shows might suggest.
The Well penetrated a 70m gas
column in the same Triassic sandstone reservoir as the Corrib
field, but with lower porosity. The Well was not production tested,
however there is good evidence on log data to suggest the presence
of gas. The Well was terminated in the reservoir, meaning the gas
column is a “gas down to”. Based on Europa’s mapping the Company
believes that the full gas column may be some 170m thick. The surface area of the structure is
some 5.75km2. The presence of gas reservoir
substantially de-risks the Corrib North prospect and other
prospects on the licence as a whole. These include the Foyle,
Foyle North and Foyle West prospects some 16km north west of
Corrib.
Table showing Europa current Best Technical Estimates of Gas in
Place: various structures in LO 16/20.
|
Best Technical Estimate Gas In Place
(bscf) |
Corrib North discovery |
40 |
Foyle prospect |
1,098 |
Foyle NW prospect |
1,094 |
Foyle W prospect |
212 |
Bofin lead |
69 |
Corrib NW prospect |
26 |
Total (bscf) |
2,539 |
The information communicated in this announcement is inside
information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation
596/2014.
* * ENDS * *
For further information please visit 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 2017 Europa produced 113 boepd.
Its highly prospective exploration projects include the Wressle
development in the UK and seven licences offshore Ireland with the potential to host gross mean
un-risked prospective and indicative resources of 4.7 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.