Dublin-headquartered and AIM-listed United Oil & Gas has received an environmental permit for offshore surveys at its license off the coast of Jamaica.
As disclosed by the Irish player, Jamaica’s National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) has authorized the surveys to be undertaken at its 100%-owned Walton Morant licence. The permit is valid for five years.
A range of non-invasive surveys will be performed, including bathymetric, geotechnical, and environmental baseline studies. The operator sees this as a key milestone in progressing toward the next phase of operational activities under the license.
Since the surveys are designed to further de-risk the license by providing data to support prospectivity, including potential hydrocarbon presence in the seabed, United hopes they will help it find a farmout partner for the license.
Thanks to an extension obtained in March, United will remain at the license’s helm until January 2028. At the time, the Irish player said multiple companies are under non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and actively reviewing data as part of the farm-out process.
Brian Larkin , CEO of United Oil & Gas, said: “With the Environmental Permit now secured and the Beach Licence expected shortly, we are moving into a position to advance technical operations and rebuild momentum across one of the most exciting and underexplored basins in the region.”
He noted that his company is focused on unlocking value through both technical de-risking and commercial engagement.
United believes the license is comparable in scale and geological potential to Guyana’s Stabroek resource, and an analogous multiple FPSO hub development could be used for its monetization.
Stabroek was, until recently, the object of a dispute between ExxonMobil and Chevron over the latter’s acquisition of another partner in the block, Hess . The dispute was resolved earlier this month when the Chamber of Commerce Tribunal issued a ruling allowing Chevron to proceed with the Hess merger.
Walton Morant is a 22,400-square-kilometer offshore exploration license south of Jamaica. The frontier exploration license is covered by 2,250 square kilometers of 3D data.
In April, United said the Walton-Morant block hosts over 40 identified leads and prospects, 11 of which have been independently verified by Gaffney-Cline in a prospective resources report (PRR). Collectively, they are believed to hold over 2.4 billion barrels of unrisked mean prospective resources.
However, internal estimates from United and previous operators indicate that the license’s total exploration potential could be even greater, exceeding 7 billion barrels.
The Walton Basin comprises 29 leads and prospects, including five PRR-certified, with a potential upside exceeding 4 billion barrels. The Morant Basin has 11 leads identified on 2D seismic, including six PRR-certified leads, with a potential upside of over 3 billion barrels.