From our selection of over 500 continually updated energy company profiles, KeyFacts Energy today feature Deltic Energy.

Deltic Energy Plc is a London based oil and gas exploration business investing in the UK’s proven hydrocarbon provinces where it currently holds significant equity positions in a number of highly prospective licences in the Southern and Central North Sea.

The company have amassed a portfolio of low risk, high impact exploration assets with net P50 prospective resources of more than 360 mmboe in the infrastructure rich, well established basins of the UKCS. The portfolio is primarily focused on future gas production given the increasing importance of natural gas in the transition to a low carbon future.

Deltic are fully funded for their medium term exploration activities including participation in two low risk, high impact wells with Shell that are expected to be drilled in 2021 and 2022. 

SOUTHERN NORTH SEA OPERATIONS

P2252 – Pensacola
P2252 is a 28th Round licence located to the north west of the Breagh gas field and contains the Pensacola prospect. Deltic have identified a number of high quality exploration and appraisal targets within Zechstein carbonates including the Pensacola Reef Prospect which has gross P50 recoverable resources of 309 BCF. The licence was the subject of a farm-in by Shell in 2019 and the partnership acquired new 3D seismic across the Pensacola area in August 2019.

In November 2020, operator Shell reiterated to Deltic and the UK Oil and Gas Authority, its plan to drill the high impact, play opening Pensacola Prospect on Licence P2252 and that it remains scheduled to be drilled in Q4 2021.

This progress has allowed well planning on Pensacola to commence. Well design work is underway and competitive scoping of the exploration well is in the process of being completed.

The additional processing being carried out by Shell will further de-risk the Pensacola prospect, help refine the range of volumes and exact well location and is a key enabler of Shell's internal approval processes. Other workflows including refinement of recoverable gas resources, analogue studies, detailed well engineering and development options are continuing in parallel with this additional seismic processing work, which will support the ongoing well planning process. Shell will continue to carry 100% of Deltic's costs until the well investment decision is made.

P2437 – Selene
P2437 is a 30th Round licence situated in the Permian aged Lower Leman Sandstone play fairway, on the eastern edge of the Sole Pit Inversion and contains the Selene Prospect.  Selene is one of the largest undrilled Permian structures in the SNS with gross P50 prospective resources of 291 BCF.

Shell U.K. Ltd Farm-in to P2437: On 30th April 2019 the Company announced that Shell U.K. Ltd exercised their option on Licence P2437 and specifically the Selene prospect. Following completion of the transaction in August 2019, Deltic have transferred a 50% working interest in Licence P2437 to Shell in return for a cash sum of USD$600,000 and Shell funding 75% of the costs the first exploration to be drilled on the licence up to a gross well cost of USD$25M. 

P2428 – Cupertino
P2428 is a 30th Round licence located to the north-east of the Crosgan discovery and the to the west of the Cygnus gas field. Deltic reprocessed legacy 2D seismic across the area to pre-SDM in the 2nd half of 2019 which has significantly improved image quality over previous iterations. Interpretation work is now complete and the the Company believes that Licence P2428 represents a significant prize in the underexplored northern part of the Southern North Sea with several new fields potentially located in an area of limited seismic data and very few well penetrations. The Company will be initiating a farm out process from December 2020.

Cupertino Prospect: Cupertino is a large Carboniferous inversion structure at the NW end of the Southern North Sea.  The target reservoir is the Scremerston Formation and although there are no well penetrations on the licence the sandstones of the Scremerston are proven producers at the Breagh Field and the nearby Crosgan discovery.

The prospect is a 3-way dip and fault sealed structure with the large North Dogger Fault providing side seal along the Northern edge of the prospect.  The fault seal provides the potential for the greatest upside volumes associated with the prospect and is also a key risk.

Cupertino has estimated P50 Prospective Resources of 370 BCF with a GCoS of 26% which is expected to improve if 3D seismic is shot across the acreage.

P2424 – Cortez
P2424 is a 30th Round licence comprising of blocks 42/14 and 42/15 located in the Lower Carboniferous play fairway immediately to the east of the producing Breagh gas field and to the south of the Crosgan discovery. The block also contains potential within the Bunter Sandstone and the small Furasta discovery is located centrally on block 42/15b.

Burbank Prospect:The Burbank Prospect is mapped as a 3-way dip and fault controlled trap in the Bunter Sandstone on the NW end of a 6.5km wide and 25km long NW-SE anticline created by post-depositional salt pillow style halokenesis in the underlying Zechstein salt.

The Prospect is partially imaged on 2D and 3D seismic and covers an area of approximately 29km².

P2435 – Blackadder
P2435 is a 30th Round licence located on the western limit of the Sole Pit Basin of the Southern North Sea, approximately 65km south east of Flamborough Head. The primary play in over the licence is the Permian Rotliegendes which provides the reservoir in all adjacent fields and discoveries.

P2567 – Cadence
P2567 is a 32nd Round licence located to the north west of the Pegasus and Andromeda complex. The 43/11 block was previously held by Deltic as P2248 and contains the Cadence, Bassett and Bathurst prospects, whilst the newly awarded 43/12b contains the Cordova prospect.

The Company has worked extensively on the seismic data and other datasets to enhance its understanding of this area which has resulted in a more robust interpretation over the intra-Carboniferous Cadence prospect and the identification of additional prospectivity beneath the Base Permian Unconformity ("BPU"). The Board considers this BPU prospect, the Cordova prospect, to be highly analogous to the recent Andromeda North discovery which was drilled by Spirit Energy in 2019 on the block immediately to the south of 43/12b. 

P2560/P2561/P2562 – Breagh South Area
Licences P2560, P2561 and P2562 were awarded to Deltic in the 32nd Licence Round and are located to the South and southeast of the Breagh field in the Southern North Sea. This is a proven gas bearing area with a limited number of well penetrations and a mixture of 2D and 3D seismic data of varying vintage and quality which will respond well to modern reprocessing. The Company considers this area to have significant potential, with multiple leads mapped in the Carboniferous with additional upside in the Zechstein and the Leman Sandstone in the southern-most blocks. 

P2558 – Pensacola North
P2558 is a 32nd Round licence located in the Southern North Sea, to the East of the Pensacola Zechstein Reef prospect. Deltic applied for the acreage on behalf of the P2252 Pensacola partnership and is Operator. Extensions to the Zechstein reefs are mapped across the licence as leads on the new Bluewater 3D survey shot by the JV in 2019. The Company has a 30% working interest in the licence and will fulfil the role of operator as the technical work begins. 

CENTRAL NORTH SEA OPERATIONS

P2384 – Manhattan
P2384 a 30th Round licence situated in the East Central Graben of the Central North Sea, NE of the Montrose/Arbroath High and South of the Huntington Field.

P2542 – Syros
P2542 is a 32nd Round licence situated on the western flank of the Montrose/Arbroath High. The key prospectivity is found in the Jurassic aged Fulmar Sandstone, which is proven by the Cayley Field to the North of the licence. Syros is the main prospect on P2542 and is mapped on 3D seismic data as a pinch out of the Fulmar Fm against the high.

P2352 – Dewar
P2352 is a 30th Round licence situated in the East Central Graben of the Central North Sea, SE of the Marnock field, and contains the Dewar prospect in the Forties Sandstone.  P50 Prospective Resources are estimated at 39.5mmboe which is considered to be highly attractive given is location close to the existing production infrastructure of ETAP (the BP operated Eastern Trough Area Project) which has recently been the subject of a significant life extension project.

The surrounding area has seen significant activity recently with first oil at the Culzean field in 2019 and new developments proposed on the Seagull discovery and the Skua field.

Given the Company's 100% equity position in this licence, Deltic is actively looking to attract funding and/or an operating partner to support the maturation of this asset towards drilling activity.

32nd Offshore Licensing Round 

In September 2020, Deltic Energy announced the provisional award of six licences covering twelve full and part blocks covering approximately 2,155.5 km², by the UK Oil and Gas Authority in the UK’s 32nd Offshore Licensing Round.

With the exception of blocks 41/05b and 42/01b, all blocks are being awarded to the Company on a 100% equity position. Blocks 41/05b and 42/01b have been jointly awarded with Shell holding a 70% working interest.

In December 2020, these six new licences comprising twelve blocks were formally awarded to Deltic.

LEADERSHIP

Mark Lappin Chairman
Graham Swindells Chief Executive Officer
Andrew Nunn Chief Operating Officer
Peter Cowley Non-Executive Director
Sarah McLeod Chief Financial Officer

CONTACT

Deltic Energy Plc
1st Floor, 150 Waterloo Road
London, SE1 8SB, United Kingdom

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7887 2630
Email: ir@delticenergy.com

KeyFacts Energy: Deltic Energy UK country profile

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