Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) Plc AGM Statement
December 14 2017 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMEOG
Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc / Index: AIM / Epic: EOG / Sector: Oil & Gas
14 December 2017
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, CEO Hugh Mackay will give a presentation
to shareholders in line with the Company's RNS Reach which was released today
at 7am. In addition, Colin Bousfield, Chairman of Europa, will make the
following statement at the AGM:
"2017 was a record year for Europa in terms of corporate activity. The Company
agreed no fewer than seven transactions for the financial year ending 31 July
2017, all of which are in line with our strategy to advance our asset base
towards value trigger events such as drilling, whilst managing the associated
risks. The above number of deals does not tell the whole story. We remain in
active discussions with potential partners for several other licences, most
notably our industry leading acreage offshore Ireland, and I am confident that
the strong momentum behind our deal flow will be maintained, as we focus on
proving up the billions of barrels of prospective resources we have identified
across our licences.
"Among the deals we secured was the farm-out of a 70% interest in LO 16/19 in
the Irish Atlantic Margin to Cairn Energy in return for a free carry on a US$6m
work programme including the acquisition of 3D seismic; the farm-out of a 12.5%
interest in the upcoming Holmwood well in the Weald Basin to Angus Energy,
which sees Europa fully carried on its 20% share of drilling costs; and two
separate sales of interests in the Wressle discovery in East Lincolnshire in
which we continue to hold a 20% stake. In addition, we increased Europa's
interest in PEDLs 299 (Hardstoft oil field) and 343 (Cloughton gas discovery)
to 25% and 35% respectively at no additional cost to the Company following our
acquisition of Shale Petroleum (UK) Limited.
"Our model is based on gaining early entry into new plays, undertaking first
class technical work and then securing partners to take our licences forward.
As well as reducing risk this allows a company of our size to not just
participate in exploration activity in our chosen areas of focus, but also to
play an active role in shaping its development. This is what we have done and
continue to do offshore Ireland where, thanks to being one of the first to
enter the South Porcupine basin in 2011, we now hold one of the largest and
most diverse licence positions. Surrounded by blue chip operators of the
stature of Statoil, Total, ENI, Nexen and BP, Europa's portfolio of seven
licences covers an area of 5,818 sq km, includes six play types in three basins
and contains over 30 prospects and leads that potentially hold gross mean
unrisked resources of over 4 billion barrels of oil and 1.5 TCF of gas.
Technical work continues across our Irish acreage to increase the number of
drill-ready prospects to six within the next 12 months. Currently we have two,
each of which is a potential company-maker.
"With six offshore Ireland licences at various stages of the farm-out process,
we are confident further deals will be agreed. Our confidence is not based
solely on the quality of our assets and our inhouse technical work, but also on
the high level of interest in the region. The flurry of transactions seen
during 2017, including our own farm-out to Cairn Energy, is testament to
offshore Ireland's emergence as an exploration hotspot. Thanks to our unique
position, Europa is very much at the heart of this exciting new play and we are
determined to capitalise on this for the benefit of our shareholders.
"Needle-moving activity in the year ahead is not restricted to offshore
Ireland. Onshore UK, we expect to drill a well to test the 5.6 million
Holmwood prospect in the Weald Basin. In addition to targeting the producing
Portland sandstone, the well is expected to encounter the Kimmeridge limestone
from which the nearby Horse Hill discovery produced at a rate of over 1,300
bopd for a limited period. Still in the UK and subject to the outcome of an
appeal with the Planning Inspectorate, in 2018 we hope to bring the Wressle oil
discovery online which will double our net production to over 200bopd. At this
level our production will break even at US$30 per barrel oil. At today's US$60+
per barrel level, 200bopd would provide us with a highly cash generative
platform with which to fund further exploration.
"With work streams underway across our portfolio, we are delivering on our
objective to expose our shareholders to multiple company-making opportunities,
while reducing risk and minimising capital commitments. I look forward to
providing further updates on our progress in the year ahead."
* * 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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