TIDMUJO
RNS Number : 1974C
Union Jack Oil PLC
18 January 2018
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure Certain information
contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside
information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No
596/2014 until the release of this announcement.
18 January 2018
UNION JACK OIL PLC
(AIM: UJO)
Wressle Oil Field New Planning Application Process
Further to the announcement of 5 January 2018, Union Jack Oil
plc ("Union Jack" or the "Company"), a UK-focused, onshore oil and
gas production and exploration company, notes the announcement made
this morning by the operator Egdon Resources plc ("Egdon") in
respect of a forward plan for the Wressle oil field and to initiate
a new planning application process following the appeal decisions
made by the UK Planning Inspector ("Inspector"). The Board of Union
Jack is fully supportive of this plan of action.
Union Jack's Chairman, David Bramhill also takes the opportunity
to restate Union Jack's forward strategy on its wider UK onshore
portfolio in today's favourable oil price environment.
David Bramhill, Executive Chairman of Union Jack, said: "We
share the frustration of our shareholders given the UK planning
obstacles we have encountered at Wressle, so we fully endorse the
decisions of the Wressle joint venture partners to pursue all
credible avenues to be able to bring this significant conventional
oil discovery into production. In addition to the Wressle forward
plan, I would like to reassure shareholders that as Union Jack
possesses an attractive onshore portfolio of other producing assets
and drill-ready exploration and appraisal targets that, in today's
oil price environment, the Board has been alert to generating
improved shareholder value by refining its forward strategy.
Our strategy remains to create shareholder value by building a
successful UK onshore exploration and development company focused
on conventional low-cost onshore production, development, and
exploration drilling. Union Jack's attractive onshore portfolio
contains producing oil fields and drill-ready exploration and
appraisal targets which include the assets acquired recently from
Cairn Energy being interests in the producing Keddington oil field
and the shut-in historic Dukes Wood and Kirklington oil
developments.
In addition, in November 2017 we purchased a 20% interest in the
producing Fiskerton Airfield oil field, where we expect to increase
further production through workovers and other remedial processes
that are expected to enhance our cash flow materially. On behalf of
the Fiskerton joint venture, Union Jack is also funding a 3D
seismic re-processing exercise and our technical team will assist
independently in re-mapping the area surrounding this oil field to
identify further production opportunities from the existing
producing reservoir.
With the oil price approaching $70, we are seeing a dramatic
effect on the value of our oil production assets where, for the
first time in more than two years, profit margins have increased
given the expanding differential between the value of the oil
produced and sold, compared to field operating costs that are
largely fixed in nature. Today's oil price environment encourages
us to discuss with the operator ways in which to expand oil
production at the existing Keddington, Fiskerton Airfield, Dukes
Wood and Kirklington facilities that all have existing planning
approvals in place.
I highlighted in a recent announcement that it is also our
intent that, going forward, Union Jack will undertake "a more hands
on approach". My feedback from shareholders is that this intention
is both welcomed and supported so we intend to be more flexible and
entrepreneurial in the way we pursue opportunities while keeping to
our reputation of applying strict financial and technical
discipline.
We continue to review a number of near-term production,
appraisal and drill-ready opportunities and, as part of that, we
will also seek to expand our commercial partnerships with other
like-minded industry participants to jointly pursue the acquisition
of interests in late-stage onshore production and development
projects at the asset level or by selectively investing in
undervalued onshore focused companies."
Competent Person's Statement
The information contained in this announcement has been reviewed
and approved by Graham Bull, Non-Executive Director of Union Jack,
who has over 48 years of oil and gas industry exploration
experience. Mr Bull is a member of the Petroleum Exploration
Society of Great Britain, the American Association of Petroleum
Geologists and a Fellow of the Geological Society of London.
For further information, please contact:
Union Jack Oil plc +44 (0)7787 160 682
David Bramhill
SP Angel Corporate Finance
LLP +44 (0)20 3470 0470
Nominated Adviser and
Joint Broker
Lindsay Mair
Richard Hail
Stephen Wong
Turner Pope Investments
(TPI) Ltd +44 (0)20 3621 4120
Joint Broker
Ben Turner
James Pope
Egdon`s RNS published today follows:
18 January 2018
EGDON RESOURCES PLC
("Egdon" or "the Company")
Wressle Forward Plan
Egdon Resources plc (AIM:EDR) can advise the forward plan for
the Wressle oil field development following the decision made by
the Planning Inspector issued on 4 January 2018, to reject the
appeals by Egdon against the two planning refusals by North
Lincolnshire Council's Planning Committee.
Having taken legal and planning advice and having fully
considered the specific reasons for rejection of the appeals as set
out by the Inspector in his Decision Notice, the Company can advise
that it will now:
a) Prepare and submit a new planning application to North
Lincolnshire Council seeking its consent for the Wressle oil field
development. This application, which will be submitted prior to the
expiry of the current planning consent, will address in detail all
matters highlighted by the Inspector in his Decision Notice to
dismiss the appeals; and
b) Prepare and submit a new application to North Lincolnshire
Council to extend the current planning consent (which now expires
on 28 April 2018 following our successful appeal) to ensure that
North Lincolnshire Council has sufficient time for consideration of
the new application and to maintain consent for the current
site.
We remain fully prepared to take these new planning applications
through the appeals process should they be delayed or refused.
In addition, we continue to take legal advice in respect of the
Decision Notice.
Mark Abbott, Managing Director of Egdon Resources plc, said:
"Egdon and its joint venture partners remain fully committed to
the Wressle project and the proposed new application will address
the limited reasons for refusal highlighted by the Inspector. I
look forward to updating the market on Wressle in due course.
Elsewhere within Egdon's extensive portfolio, the coming period
will see potentially high impact drilling activity at Springs Road,
Biscathorpe, Holmwood and possibly North Kelsey, and the results of
workovers at Fiskerton Airfield. We are also developing plans for
the Keddington, Kirkleatham, Dukes Wood/Kirklington and Waddock
Cross fields which will benefit from the improving oil price."
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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