Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) Plc Technical Update on LO16/20 Offshore Ireland

 
TIDMEOG 
 
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. 
 
 
 
END
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