Europa Oil & Gas’ licence offshore Ireland estimated at $7B

Europa Oil & Gas has informed that, based on an independent assessment undertaken by ERC Equipoise (ERCE), three prospects on Frontier Exploration Licence (FEL) 3/13 in the Porcupine Basin, offshore Ireland, have a mean Un-risked Net Present Value (NPV) of approximately $7 billion to a 100% working interest.

According to Europa, on a Risked NPV basis the study estimates a 100% working interest (subject to government approval) at $1.1 billion. A Competent Persons Report (CPR) prepared by ERCE in May 2015 detailed total Gross mean Un-risked Prospective Resources of 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent (bboe) across the three prospects in FEL 3/13.

In June, ERCE undertook an independent assessment of the NPV of Europa’s then 15% carried interest in FEL 3/13. However, following the announcement on September 22, 2015, that Kosmos Energy Ireland (Kosmos) intends to withdraw from Ireland, Europa announced its intention to assume 100% interest in FEL 2/13 and FEL 3/13 and instructed ERCE to revise the NPV to reflect a 100% working interest in FEL 3/13 and without the benefit of a carried work programme. The estimate of NPV provided on Monday also incorporates an updated oil price assumption and cost deck, Europa has said.

The process for transfer of Kosmos’ interest and operatorship of FEL 2/13 and 3/13 to Europa is ongoing and is subject to obtaining relevant approval from the Irish Authorities. On completion of this process and assuming a successful outcome, Europa will seek to farm-out some of its interests in both licences, the company said.

Europa Oil & Gas CEO Hugh Mackay said: “The CPR summary issued on 12 May 2015 identified significant potential volumes of hydrocarbons: Gross mean Un-risked Prospective Resources of approximately 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent across three prospects in FEL 3/13. With the imminent departure of Kosmos from the licence, our net interest will revert to 100%, subject to government approval, with a potential Net mean Un-risked NPV10 of approximately US$7 billion and a Net mean Risked NPV10 of US$1.1 billion estimated by ERCE. We believe this is a very strong indication of the commercial potential in our licences in offshore Ireland.

“To realise this potential we need to drill exploration wells and find oil. Our mission is to land a farm-in partner to share the costs of drilling and the target audience is major and mid-cap oil companies. As a consequence of the drop in oil prices day rates for the state of the art harsh-environment deepwater drilling rigs have halved. The next few years offer an opportunity to drill offshore Ireland at the lowest rig costs in over a decade. We are encouraged by the high levels of participation in the 2015 Atlantic Margin Licensing Round, particularly given the low oil price. It would appear that many other companies share our belief in the technical and commercial case for exploration offshore Ireland. I look forward to updating the market in due course as we focus on securing a farm-in partner with whom we can work to unlock the potential value of these prospects.”

The three said prospects are Beckett, Wilde and Shaw, located  approximately 125 km from shore. These prospects are at the pre-drill stage and realisation of this potential value will require the drilling of exploration wells. Due to water depths in excess of 1,000m, each prospect would be developed by a Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading unit (FPSO) in the event of successful exploration drilling, Europa Oil & Gas has said.

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