Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) PLC Shareholder Newsletter
September 18 2017 - 2:01AM
RNS Non-Regulatory
TIDMEOG
Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) PLC
18 September 2017
Europa Oil & Gas plc / Index: AIM / Epic: EOG / Sector: Oil
& Gas
18 September 2017
Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc ('Europa' or 'the
Company')
Shareholder Newsletter
Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) PLC is pleased to provide its
investors with the following update on its portfolio of multistage
licences offshore Ireland and onshore UK:
Dear Investor,
The last investor newsletter was issued on 1 August 2017,
http://bit.ly/2w14kV2. Amongst other things included in the
newsletter was the potential read across from Providence's 53/6-1
exploration well in FEL 2/14 in the South Porcupine Basin to
Europa's four licences in the basin.
Following Providence's RNS of 11 September 2017
http://bit.ly/2fczPVb reporting the results of drilling Drombeg we
have responded to several inquiries from investors regarding what
these results mean for Europa. In these circumstances, we feel it
beneficial that our interpretation is shared more widely amongst
the Europa shareholder base.
Providence's 53/6-1 well was drilled through two prospects: a
Paleocene prospect - Druid - and a mid-Cretaceous aged fan prospect
- Drombeg. We discussed Druid in our previous newsletter and we
shall therefore concentrate on Drombeg. Europa has no licence
interest in FEL 2/14 and any thoughts Europa has are based on
public domain information about Drombeg, together with the
Company's in-house knowledge of the basin and hydrocarbon plays,
and the detailed knowledge we have about our own licences and
prospects.
First of all it should be noted that 53/6-1 is the very first
exploration well to be drilled into a Cretaceous fan in the South
Porcupine basin. Prior to drilling there was considerable
uncertainty regarding both the presence of reservoir and the
effectiveness of the reservoir. The prediction was based on
interpretation of seismic data, geological modelling and
correlation of offset well data. The nearest well 43/13-1 is 90km
to the north and does not contain a Cretaceous fan. Pre-drill it
was therefore possible that the forecast Drombeg fan might contain
no reservoir or that even if reservoir were present that the
porosity and permeability were so poor as not to provide an
effective reservoir.
What we now know is that 53/6-1 proved the presence of sandstone
reservoir in the Drombeg Cretaceous fan. Europa's opinion is that
this has potentially de-risked the reservoir presence component of
other mid-Cretaceous-aged fans in the South Porcupine. Europa has
two mid-Cretaceous aged fans, Beckett and Shaw, in FEL 3/13. In due
course Drombeg may also de-risk any mid-Cretaceous aged fans in LO
16/19 were we to identify any on the 3D seismic acquired this
summer. Europa's FEL 3/13 licence also contains an older perhaps
Valanginian-aged Cretaceous fan called Wilde, deposited some 15
million years earlier than the Drombeg, Beckett and Shaw fans. We
understand that 53/6-1 does not penetrate the deeper sequences so
there is no direct read across; however, our confidence in
inferring sandstone presence at Wilde from seismic evidence has
increased. The reservoir is reported as porous, however, in the
absence of any further information we cannot make any comment on
the effectiveness of the reservoir.
Providence's 11 September 2017 RNS also contained reference to
information relevant to source rock: "The possible presence of
bitumen was reported in drill cuttings within the Drombeg reservoir
interval which may indicate that it received an oil charge which
was not retained at this location. However, further studies will be
required in order to confirm this interpretation and its
implications for the wider prospectivity within FEL 2/14."
We are unaware if the well penetrated a source rock interval.
However, if the reported possible presence of bitumen is confirmed
as being real then this would have the effect of de-risking the
presence and effectiveness of source rock. We can infer that if oil
is present then a source rock is present and effective somewhere in
the vicinity. Europa considers that Late Jurassic mudstones (and
possibly Earliest Cretaceous mudstones) provide the source rock for
all the hydrocarbon plays in the South Porcupine basin: Pre-rift,
Syn-rift, Cretaceous Slope, Cretaceous Fan and Paleocene. If the
Drombeg bitumen is verified as oil then we would interpret this to
de-risk some of the source rock presence and effectiveness
component across all four of Europa's licences in the basin.
The final risk components are trap presence and effectiveness.
We are not in a position to comment on this at Drombeg. We are
aware that these are key risks at our own Cretaceous fan prospects
in FEL 3/13. We are close to completing a 3D seismic reprocessing
project on our 2013 proprietary data across FEL 3/13 and FEL 1/17.
One key output might be gaining better insights into trapping
geometry and seal prediction at the Beckett, Shaw and Wilde fan in
FEL 3/13; particularly if we can identify any element of fault
seal.
The prospects in FEL 1/17 and FEL 2/13 are mostly in the
Pre-rift and Syn-rift hydrocarbon play. The result of Drombeg has
no relevance to the reservoir and trap elements of these plays but
might de-risk some of the source elements.
The Drombeg result is irrelevant for the Company's Triassic gas
prospects 425 km to the north in the Slyne basin in LO 16/20 and LO
16/21 and near the Corrib gas field. The result is also irrelevant
for the Company's Syn-rift prospects and leads 350 km to the
northwest in the Padraig basin in LO 16/22 where we have emerging
evidence of a different source rock, perhaps similar to source
rocks in West of Shetland and the Northern North Sea.
We hope that investors find this update helpful. Further
information regarding our prospective resources in Atlantic Ireland
can be found on our website http://bit.ly/2ws8KTL
The South Porcupine basin remains underexplored with significant
potential in multiple plays. There are more exploration wells in
the pipeline from other operators. Our belief in the technical and
commercial potential of all the Atlantic Ireland basins; South
Porcupine, Slyne and Padraig remains undiminished. We look forward
to providing further updates as the story evolves.
* * ENDS * *
For further information please visit www.europaoil.com or
contact:
+ 44 (0) 20
Hugh Mackay Europa 7224 3770
+ 44 (0) 20
Phil Greenhalgh Europa 7224 3770
+ 44 (0) 20
Matt Goode finnCap Ltd 7220 0500
+ 44 (0) 20
Simon Hicks finnCap Ltd 7220 0500
+ 44 (0) 20
Emily Morris finnCap Ltd 7220 0500
St Brides Partners + 44 (0) 20
Frank Buhagiar Ltd 7236 1177
St Brides Partners + 44 (0) 20
Susie Geliher Ltd 7236 1177
Notes
Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc has a diversified portfolio
of multi-stage hydrocarbon assets that includes production,
exploration and development interests, in countries that are
politically stable, have transparent licensing processes, and offer
attractive terms. In 2016 Europa produced 123 boepd. Its highly
prospective exploration projects include the Wressle development
(targeting production start-up in 2018 at up to 500 bopd gross) in
the UK and seven licences offshore Ireland with the potential to
host gross mean un-risked prospective and indicative resources of
more than 4 billion barrels oil equivalent and 1.5 tcf gas across
all seven licences.
Qualified Person Review
This release has been reviewed by Hugh Mackay, Chief Executive
of Europa, who is a petroleum geologist with 30 years' experience
in petroleum exploration and a member of the Petroleum Exploration
Society of Great Britain, American Association of Petroleum
Geologists and Fellow of the Geological Society. Mr Mackay has
consented to the inclusion of the technical information in this
release in the form and context in which it appears.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
NRAGGUQABUPMGAA
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 18, 2017 02:01 ET (06:01 GMT)
Europa Oil & Gas (holdin... (LSE:EOG)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Europa Oil & Gas (holdin... (LSE:EOG)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024