Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc /
Index: AIM / Epic: EOG / Sector: Oil & Gas
30 October 2018
Europa Oil &
Gas (Holdings) plc (‘Europa’ or ‘the Company’)
Update on Wressle,
North Lincolnshire
Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc, the UK and Ireland focused oil and gas exploration,
development and production company, notes today’s update from Egdon
Resources (‘Egdon’) in its Preliminary Results with regards to its
commitment to gaining planning consent for the Wressle oil field
development on PEDL 180 in the East Midlands. Europa has a 30%
working interest in Wressle alongside Egdon (operator, 30%), Union
Jack Oil (27.5%), and Humber Oil & Gas Limited (12.5%) (‘the
Joint Venture partners’).
Europa's CEO, Hugh Mackay,
said: “It is clear that Egdon is committed to securing the
planning consent at Wressle. The operator has carefully set
out to address the issues identified in its revised planning
application which it expects to be heard by the committee before
year-end. That Egdon has increased its working interest in the
asset demonstrates its confidence in being able to develop Wressle
to commercial production, and we share its optimism that this is an
achievable target.”
Information from Egdon`s RNS published
today regarding the Wressle oil field is as follows:
Excerpt from Egdon’s Chairman’s Statement
We remain committed to gaining planning consent to develop the
Wressle oil discovery and have acquired a further 5% interest in
this asset during the period emphasising our confidence in the
asset. We await the council's determination of our revised planning
application, submitted in July 2018
following the January 2018 rejection
of our earlier planning appeals, and remain ready to take this
through another appeal process if required.
Excerpt from Egdon’s Operating Review
At the Wressle project, in early July
2018 we announced the submission of a new planning
application for the development of the oil discovery to North
Lincolnshire Council ("NLC"). The Company strongly believes that
the new application takes full account of the key findings of the
Planning Inspector's decision to dismiss the Company's appeals as
set out in his decision letter of 4 January
2018, which identified three key issues in his decision: the
absence of a ground conditions survey report; the absence of
sufficient evidence on the adequacy of the Geosynthetic Clay Liner
(GCL) covering; and uncertainty with regards to the near surface
geology, specifically the presence of capping layers to the
underlying aquifers.
The first issue has been addressed by the production of an
independent Ground Investigation Report using information gained
from geotechnical site investigation boreholes drilled in Q1
2018.
The second issue has been addressed through the proposed
reconfiguration of the wellsite to install a new high-density
polyethylene (HDPE) impermeable membrane above the existing GCL,
with additional associated protection layers across the entire
wellsite. The specification of the HDPE impermeable membrane,
associated protection layers and thickness and suitability of the
stone covering layer, has been tested and validated in a
laboratory, and agreed between the membrane manufacturer and
Egdon's consulting civil and structural engineers.
The third issue has been addressed through an updated
independent Hydrogeological and Flood Risk Assessment (HRA), which
includes the results of samples tested from two deeper cored
boreholes drilled in Q1 2018, which conclusively demonstrates the
presence of laterally continuous capping layers to the underlying
aquifers.
The proposed development incorporates high levels of embedded
mitigation, the effectiveness of which will be verified by
continuous monitoring of the nearby water and groundwater.
Egdon also plans to set up a community liaison group and a
community fund to ensure the local community are kept fully
informed and share in the benefits of the Wressle development.
Whilst we have increased our efforts to convince the members of
the NLC Planning Committee of the clear merits of our new
application, our recent experiences mean we remain fully prepared
to take this new application through another appeal process. As the
most recent example of their apparent intransigence, on
1 August 2018 the NLC Planning
Committee refused our application to extend the existing consent
for the Wressle site despite a recommendation for approval from
their own professional planning officers. The reasons cited were
conflicts with paragraph 205 of the National Planning Policy
Framework and policy M21 of the North Lincolnshire Local Plan even
though in his decision of January
2018 the Inspector found in Egdon's favour on our appeal
against the same reasons. We have now submitted an appeal against
this decision and await the timeline for the process. We anticipate
the current application being heard by committee before the end of
2018.
Notwithstanding the issues experienced to date, and
demonstrating our commitment to and confidence in the Wressle field
development, in June 2018 we
announced the acquisition of an additional 5% interest in PEDL180
and PEDL182 from Celtique Energie Petroleum Limited for a deferred
cash consideration of £0.417m payable on commencement of
production.
Outlook
Our main operational activity during the coming period will be
focused on:
- Securing planning consent and developing the Wressle discovery
for commercial production
* * 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 2018 Europa produced 94 boepd. Its highly
prospective exploration projects include the Wressle development in
the UK (targeting production start-up in 2019 at 500 bopd gross)
and six licences offshore Ireland
with the potential to host gross mean un-risked prospective
resources of 6.2 billion barrels oil equivalent and 2.5 tcf
undiscovered GIIP across all six licences.