United gets two North Sea blocks

United Oil & Gas, the London Stock Exchange listed oil and gas exploration and development company, has been awarded two blocks, including an oil discovery, in the UK North Sea. 

United was on May 24, 2018, provisionally awarded in the UK Continental Shelf 30th Offshore Licensing Round, two highly prospective blocks in the Central North Sea, including the Crown Oil Discovery.

The company said on Thursday it has accepted the formal offer from the Oil and Gas Authority, the UK oil and gas regulator, confirming the award of Blocks 15/18d and 15/19b (Licence P2366), with the license term beginning October 1, 2018.

The two highly prospective blocks in the Central North Sea cover an area of c. 13.6 sq km and are close to the substantial Piper, MacCulloch and Dumbarton/Donan oil fields and include the Palaeocene Crown Oil Discovery which could contain up to 16 million barrels of recoverable oil.

United’s internal estimates suggest a range in recoverable volumes of 4-16mmbbls oil, with mid-case estimates of ~9mmbbls for the Crown Oil Discovery, which was made by ConocoPhillips in 1998 in well 15/19-9.

According to the company, the potential of the license is underlined by the interest already received from prospective farm-in partners, and the company will consider all options available in order to progress the work program as rapidly as possible.

“The directors believe this interest reflects not only the quality of Blocks 15/18d and 15/19b but also the uptick in activity and interest in the Central North Sea,” UOG said.

United Oil & Gas CEO, Brian Larkin, said, “A number of factors including the existing multi-million barrel oil discovery, multiple leads and targets, an excellent location close to substantial oil fields, and the attractive cost profile of exploration and production in the North Sea all culminate to position these licenses as compelling investment opportunities. Confirmation of the award enables us to pursue farm-out discussions with potential partners with whom we can work to take these licenses forward.”

Larkin added: “Blocks 15/18d and 15/19b are the latest additions to our portfolio of late stage appraisal/development projects in Europe and high-impact exploration plays in Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean. All our licenses have defined paths to near-term value driving activity such as drilling and production, offering multiple re-rating opportunities. With drilling operations at the UK near shore Colter Discovery, which lies in the same play as the prolific Wytch Farm field, due to commence in Q4 2018, investors will not have to wait long for the next potential value trigger event.

“Together with results of processing work to de-risk the Colibri target on the Tullow Oil-operated Walton-Morant license offshore Jamaica, which has been estimated to hold gross mean-case prospective resources of over 200mmbbls, and the ongoing permitting process to bring our onshore Italy gas discovery into production, the next few months promise to be an exciting period for United.”