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(Sharecast News) - UK, Ireland and Morocco-focussed oil and gas exploration, development and production company Europa Oil & Gas announced the formal launch of a farmout initiative on its Inezgane Offshore Permit in Morocco's Agadir Basin on Tuesday, which it was awarded in 2019.
The AIM-traded firm said Inezgane represented a "high-impact" exploration opportunity in a "highly underexplored" area of the world, representing a farm-in opportunity for interested companies, complementing its existing strategy of seeking to develop a balanced portfolio of assets.
It said the licence is located on the same geological trend which led to major oil and gas discoveries along the west coast of Africa, with reservoirs and source rocks in common with the prolific West African play.
Europa's recent evaluation identified a "significant" volume of licence resource of more than two billion barrels of oil equivalent in the top five ranked prospects alone.
The company added that Morocco offered "excellent" fiscal terms, with a low tax take and several major and midcap companies holding acreage in the country, including ENI, Hunt, Genel and ConocoPhillips.
"We are delighted to announce the launch of the farmout initiative of the Inezgane Licence which represents not only a high-impact exploration opportunity for Europa but also sits comfortably within the company's strategy of creating a balanced portfolio of complementary assets," said chief executive officer Simon Oddie.
"Morocco is a welcoming jurisdiction in which to operate and has excellent environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials in the fields of wind, solar and hydroelectric with ambitions to source 50% of its electrical energy from renewable sources by 2030 as well as becoming a net exporter to Europe."
In holding a 75% interest in, and operatorship of, the licence, Oddie said Europa controlled an area of 11,228 square kilometres, with Morocco's national oil company ONHYM holding the remaining 25%.
"The work completed thus far has focussed on the top five ranked prospects which each have mean resources in excess of 200 million barrels of oil equivalent at the Albian level, with total mean resources in excess of two billion barrels.
"These are extremely positive numbers for the Company and we hope to capitalise on the prospectivity demonstrated along this prolific geological trend."
At 1051 BST, shares in Europa Oil & Gas Holdings were up 3.08% at 1.34p.
23 Oct 2023 13:33
IN BRIEF: Europa Oil & Gas swings to loss amid one-off costs
Europa Oil & Gas Holdings PLC - UK and Ireland-focused oil and gas exploration, development, and production company - In the year ended July 31, reports a pretax loss of GBP884,000, compared to a profit of GBP1.4 million the year prior. Revenue rises to GBP6.7 million from GBP6.6 million year-on-year. Notes the stable revenue figure was despite a lower oil price and weaker pound during the period. Records a GBP1.7 million exploration write-off in the year, as well as significantly higher expenses. Administrative expenses jump to GBP1.9 million from GBP821,000, while finance expense climb to GBP717,000 from USD238,000.
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