KEYFACT Energy
United Oil & Gas Plc, the London Stock Exchange listed oil and gas exploration and development company, provides an update in relation to the UK Oil and Gas Authority 31st Licensing Round.
In addition to the 31st Round licences that United was awarded in the Central North Sea, United was also provisionally awarded a 10% interest in Blocks 98/11b and 98/12 in the English Channel as part of a joint venture group operated by Corallian Energy Limited. At the time of the provisional award, Blocks 98/11b and 98/12 included an area adjacent to the Colter South discovery in Licence P1918. Subsequent to this provisional award, the UK Oil and Gas Authority informed the joint venture group that the area included in the award would be amended, due to a recent change in the demarcation of the landward versus seaward licensing boundary. The revised Blocks being offered were no longer adjacent to the Colter South discovery and no longer included the primary targets that had been identified as part of the application process.
Blocks 98/11b and 98/12 as now offered do not fit with the joint venture group's strategy for developing Licence P1918. As a result, the Company, as part of the joint venture group, has decided not to accept the petroleum licence offered over the remaining, seaward parts of blocks 98/11b and 98/12. This does not affect the existing Colter and Colter South Discoveries in Block 98/11a (Licence P1918).
Brian Larkin CEO of United Oil and Gas plc
"The decision to turn down these amended petroleum licences over Blocks 98/11b and 98/12 is the correct one. Should the opportunity arise in the future to bid for the areas adjoining Colter South we will examine that very closely.
"Overall, the 31st Licensing Round has been very successful for United, with the award of four highly prospective blocks in the Central North Sea (Licence P2480). This licence covers an area of c. 500 sq km, and includes the Zeta prospect, which United estimates could contain over 90 million barrels of in-place oil."