As part of our 'at-a-glance' guide to company global operational activity, we feature Europa Oil & Gas.

Europa Oil & Gas has a diversified portfolio of multi-stage hydrocarbon assets which includes production, development and exploration interests, in countries that are politically stable, have transparent licensing processes, and offer attractive terms. In the year to 31st July 2021 Europa produced 93 boepd. Production has since increased to over 200 boepd with the Wressle field production. 

The Company holds four exploration licences offshore Ireland, which have the potential to host gross mean un-risked prospective resources of 2.7 trillion cubic feet ('tcf') gas (subject to regulatory approval for the transfer of FEL 3/19). Inishkea and Edge, two near field gas prospects in the Slyne Basin are classified as lower risk due to their close proximity to the producing Corrib gas field and associated gas processing infrastructure. 

In September 2019, Europa was awarded a 75% interest in the Inezgane permit offshore Morocco. Initial results of technical work have identified 30 prospects and leads that have the potential to hold in excess of one billion barrels of unrisked oil resources.

OPERATIONS

UK Production – Crosby Warren

Map source: KeyFacts Energy

The Company produces from three oilfields in the East Midlands – a 100% working interest in both the West Firsby and Crosby Warren fields and a 65% non-operated interest in Whisby. Overall daily production is stable at approximately 110 barrels of oil, all of which is transported by tanker to the refinery at Immingham in NE Lincolnshire.

The Crosby Warren field started production in 1987 and is located in the grounds of the steelworks at Scunthorpe. Two production wells operate here on traditional beam pumps or ‘nodding donkeys’, producing ~30bopd.

Production from the Ashover/Wingfield reservoir units at the Wressle field is anticipated to commence in 2017. Forecast gross production at startup is 500bopd gross (100bopd net to Europa).

West Firsby
The Company produces from three oilfields in the East Midlands – a 100% working interest in both the West Firsby and Crosby Warren fields and a 65% non-operated interest in the Whisby W4 well. Overall daily production is stable at approximately 110 barrels of oil, all of which is transported by tanker to the refinery at Immingham in NE Lincolnshire.

The West Firsby Field, which commenced production in 1991 and is 15km north of Lincoln, is the main operating base with two wells producing ~40bopd.

West Firsby provides an excellent opportunity to evaluate, test and prove the assorted technical aspects of CausewayGT’s geothermal systems. Located in the East Midlands, West Firsby is late in its productive life with nine wellbores with seven wellheads. The wellbores extend over an area of some 2.5 km² and extend to a depth of 1,680 m. The existing well bores, together with the availability of production and data which has been collected over the last 34 years and the geothermal gradient make West Firsby a good candidate for testing geothermal solutions.

Crosby Warren
The Company produces from three oilfields in the East Midlands – a 100% working interest in both the West Firsby and Crosby Warren fields and a 65% non-operated interest in the Whisby W4 well. Overall daily production is stable at approximately 110 barrels of oil, all of which is transported by tanker to the refinery at Immingham in NE Lincolnshire.

The Crosby Warren field started production in 1987 and is located in the grounds of the steelworks at Scunthorpe. Two production wells operate here on traditional beam pumps or ‘nodding donkeys’, producing ~30bopd.

Whisby W4 well
The Whisby well, which is just to the west of Lincoln, was drilled by Europa in early 2003 and produces ~50bopd gross via a beam pump (~30bopd net to Europa).

Development

PEDL180 (Wressle) The East Midlands
The Wressle oil discovery straddles PEDL180 and PEDL182. It lies 5km southeast of, and along the same structural trend as, the Europa-operated Crosby Warren field which has been producing oil for almost 30 years. The field was discovered by the Wressle-1 conventional exploration well which was drilled to a total depth of 2,240m (1,814m TVDSS) on 23 August 2014. Petro-physical evaluation of MWD (measurement whilst drilling) log data indicated over 30m measured thickness of potential hydrocarbon pay in three main intervals:

• Ashover Grit – up to 6.1m measured thickness of potential hydrocarbon pay
• Wingfield Flags – up to 5.64m
• Penistone Flags – up to 19.8m

Four intervals were tested between February & March 2015 flowing an aggregate 710 boepd during testing operations:

• Ashover Grit – 80 bopd and 47 thousand cubic feet of gas per day (mcfd), free flow;
• Wingfield Flags – up to 182 bopd and 0.456 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd), free flow;
• Penistone Flags zone 3 – up to 1.7 mmcfd and up to 12 bopd, free flow;
• Penistone Flags zone 3a – 77 bopd, swabbed

The results facilitated the design of an Extended Well Test (EWT) programme to quantify the production levels that could be attained from pumped production. Reservoir engineering analyses indicate an initial production flow rate of 500 bopd gross from the Ashover Grit interval. A CPR was issued on 26 September 2016 which identified gross 2P reserves on the Wressle structure of 0.65 mmboe in the Ashover and Wingfield Flags and gross 2C contingent resources of 1.86 million boe in the Penistone Flags. The EWT provided the basis for the Field Development Plan (FDP) which was submitted on 8 September 2016.

Exploration

PEDL181 The East Midlands (W.I. 50%, operator)
With phase 1 work obligations fulfilled by the drilling of the Kiln Lane well in 2015, Europa has entered into the second phase of the licence.

Following analysis of seismic and geological data, together with the results of the Kiln Lane well, Europa elected to retain an area of 160km² in the southeast of the licence and relinquish the remaining 380km². The retained area provides exposure to the conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon potential of the Humber basin. It has technical synergy with the adjacent licence PEDL334, which was awarded to an Egdon led group in the 14th Round for the purpose of conventional and unconventional exploration.

PEDL182 (Broughton North)The East Midlands (W.I. 30%)
Broughton North is in a fault block immediately to the north-west of Wressle, and as a result, ERCE Equipoise in its capacity as a Competent Person has assigned a high geological chance of success of 40% to 49% to the prospect as well as gross mean unrisked prospective resources of 0.6 million boe.

PEDL299 (Hardstoft)The East Midlands (W.I. 25%)
PEDL299 contains the Hardstoft oil field. This was discovered in 1919 by the UK’s first ever exploration well and produced 26,000 barrels of oil from Carboniferous limestone reservoir. A CPR on Hardstoft, issued by joint venture partner Upland Resources, identified gross 2C contingent resources of 3.1 million boe and gross 3C contingent resources of 18.5 million boe in PEDL299. Production testing methodologies for carbonate reservoirs have evolved since 1919, which has the potential to allow commercial oil flowrates to be obtained.

INEOS has all the rights and obligations relating to unconventional oil and gas plays (‘shale gas’ and ‘shale oil’).

PEDL343 (Cloughton)The East Midlands (W.I. 35%)
PEDL343 is located in the Cleveland Basin on the coast north of Scarborough covering blocks SE99a and TA09.

PEDL343 contains the Cloughton gas discovery made by Bow Valley. An exploration well in 1986 flowed a small amount of gas to surface on production test from Carboniferous sandstone reservoirs. Europa regards Cloughton as a gas appraisal opportunity with the critical challenge being to obtain commercial flowrates from future production testing operations.

Irish Atlantic Margin

Europa is involved in six licences in the Irish Atlantic Margin, covering an area of 4,986 km². Four of these licences are in the South Porcupine basin, targeting prospectivity on multiple levels including the Cretaceous; the pre-rift; syn-rift; and post-rift plays.

The Cretaceous stratigraphic play comprises Early Cretaceous turbidite sandstone reservoirs; charged by mature Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous source rocks; and contained in stratigraphic traps with elements of structural closure. The Cretaceous play in Ireland is essentially undrilled and is considered to be analogous to the same play in the equatorial Atlantic Margin province that has delivered the Jubilee and Mahogany oil fields.

Just as Jubilee and Mahogany inspired operators including Europa to target Early Cretaceous turbidite sandstone reservoirs in the Porcupine basin, recent discoveries in other Atlantic basins have opened up the potential for additional plays to be targeted in the Irish Atlantic Margin. In the Flemish Pass basin offshore Newfoundland, Statoil has pioneered the pre-rift play following the Bay du Nord discovery. Offshore Senegal, Cairn’s SNE discovery has opened up the potential for early post-rift sculptural events in the Porcupine. Having its own proprietary 3D seismic provides Europa with valuable technical insights and based on these the Company believes there are at least three essentially undrilled exploration plays in the South Porcupine Basin.

Morocco

Map source: KeyFacts Energy

Inezgane Permit, Offshore
Europa holds a 75% interest in, and is operator of, the large Inezgane Permit (‘Inezgane’), offshore Morocco. Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (‘ONHYM’) holds the remaining 25% interest in Inezgane, which covers an area of 11,228 km² in the Agadir Basin and lies in water depths of 600m to 2,000m.

With only 10 deepwater wells drilled to date, offshore Morocco is a relatively underexplored region. While a commercial discovery has yet to be made, one of these ten wells, the CB-1 which was drilled offshore Southern Morocco, encountered 14m of gas condensate in Albian sandstones. Of the 10 historic wells, eight targeted clastic reservoirs, essentially turbidite sands, while the remaining two targeted Jurassic carbonates. Although there is potential for reservoirs throughout the stratigraphic section on the Inezgane Permit, Europa’s primary focus is on the hitherto underexplored Lower Cretaceous fan sand play, a prolific producer in West Africa – of the eight wells targeting turbidite sands only three penetrated below the Base Cretaceous.

Due to the Europa team’s expertise in and knowledge of Lower Cretaceous plays in the Irish Atlantic Margin, Inezgane represents an excellent technical and strategic fit with Europa’s acreage in the Porcupine Basin, offshore Ireland. Europa has identified that the key elements required for a working hydrocarbon system, namely source, reservoir and seal, are all present in the Licence area. In terms of source rocks there are a number of candidates at various stratigraphic levels based on samples (well cuttings, oil typing and outcrop) and shows. These include the Cenomanian-Turonian; Albian-Aptian; Barremian and older; and the Upper Jurassic.

Europa’s geological model is centred on Lower Cretaceous sediment input emanating from the present-day Essaouira and Souss rivers depositing turbidites in the Inezgane Permit. Support for the model is drawn from present-day canyoning evident on seabed maps. In addition, thin turbidite sands of Lower Cretaceous age were encountered in wells Rak-1 and DSDP 416 and are exposed on the island of Feurteventura. Thick turbidite sst units in deepwater wells drilled to date has so far been elusive, however these wells targeted salt-related structures where the Lower Cretaceous has thinned and where reservoir risk is higher. Europa has already identified on 3D seismic a number of large structural traps located on the edges and above salt diapirs where the Lower Cretaceous remains thick and where reservoir risk is reduced. Each of these structures has the potential to hold significant quantities of hydrocarbons of up to 250MMBO.

Europa’s forward plan is initially centred on a low cost work programme including seismic reprocessing to mature these potentially large stacked structures to drillable status over the next 2-years with a view to attracting partners to carry Europa for an exploration well in 2021 or 2022. Europa believes if the Lower Cretaceous play can be unlocked enormous upside lies within the rest of the permit area.

Licence Terms

• Petroleum Licence: Three phases over 8-years
• First Phase: Seismic reprocessing and other studies
• Second Phase: Exploration well
• Third Phase: Exploration wells and seismic reprocessing. Option to relinquish at end of each phase once Work Programme completed
• Production Licence: 25 years

West Firsby Oil Field Geothermal Potential

In June 2021, Europa Oil & Gas, operator of the West Firsby oil field, entered into a Memorandum of Understanding ('MOU') with Causeway Geothermal to assess the potential of the  West Firsby oil field as a geothermal test and commercial deployment site. 

The MOU is to utilise existing infrastructure and wells for testing of geothermal solutions at West Firsby with the objective of developing, evaluating and refining elements of CausewayGT's clean, sustainable technology while also assessing the potential delivery of clean, reliable, and cheap sources of heat from West Frisby. The MOU is in line with Europa's objective to participate actively in the national energy transition.

Excellent potential for geothermal energy testing and future development
West Firsby is an excellent opportunity to evaluate, test and prove different technical aspects of CausewayGT's geothermal systems. Located in the East Midlands, West Firsby is late in its productive life with nine well bores with seven wellheads. The well bores extend over an area of 2.5 km²  and to a depth of 1,680 m. The existing well bores, together with the availability of data collected over the last 34 years and the geothermal gradient make West Firsby one of the best candidates in the UK for testing geothermal solutions.

Potential for testing
CausewayGT will apply its extensive geology and reservoir engineering experience to further develop its geothermal systems with West Firsby as an excellent test location. The MOU is centred on implementing desktop stud ies and test designs to assess the potential of West Firsby as a test site. Over an expected 2-year period, the teams at CausewayGT and Europa will further analyse the West Firsby dataset, including rock properties, temperature data and well data. As part of this CausewayGT's work will also assess West Firsby's potential for commercial deployment of geothermal at the site.  

Background
West Firsby is an excellent opportunity to evaluate, test and prove different technical aspects of geothermal systems. Located in the East Midlands, West Firsby is late in its productive life with nine wellbores with seven wellheads. The wellbores extend over an area of 2.5 km² and to a depth of 1,680 m. The existing well bores, together with the availability of data collected over the last 34 years and the geothermal gradient, make West Firsby one of the best candidates in the UK for testing geothermal solutions.

Leadership

Brian O'Cathain Non-executive Chairman
Simon Oddie Chief Executive Officer
William Ahlefeldt Independent non-executive Director
Stephen Williams Independent non-executive Director

Contact

Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc
6 Porter Street, W1U 6DD, United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)20 7224 3770

Europa Oil & Gas company/country profiles: UK  l   Ireland  l   Morocco

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