GWIK.L Share News (GWIK)

(ShareCast News) - UK-based oil and gas exploration and production company i3 Energy, itself an investment of the AIM-traded firm Glenwick, announced on Tuesday the acquisition of a 100% operated interest in the Liberator field, effective 28 December 2016.The firm said the field was an oil discovery situated within block 13/23d of the UK North Sea, immediately adjacent to the Blake field and situated 2 kilometers from Blake's producing drill centre.It said the Liberator oil field was discovered in 2013 through the drilling of an exploration well into Lower Cretaceous Captain Sands of similar quality to the Blake field.The discovery well proved a 1.5 to 2.5 Darcy reservoir with 28% porosity containing 30.3° API oil with 1.9 centipoise viscosity and an established oil water contact that maps a potential column of oil ranging from 24 to 80 feet within an elongate four way structure at a depth of approximately 5250 feet TVDSS.A Field Development Plan based on the analogous Blake field's highly productive reservoir, oil fluid properties, and extensive production history was currently being finalised for final regulatory approval, i3's board said, and was undergoing evaluation by independent engineering evaluators as part of the company's plan to publicly list through an IPO on to AIM."We are delighted with our acquisition of a 100% operated interest in this high quality oil discovery and will work with each of our stakeholders on driving towards first oil safely and as quickly as possible," said i3 chief executive officer Neill Carson."i3 has engaged Gaffney, Cline & Associates, an independent reserve auditor, to evaluate Liberator as part of our go-public efforts."Carson said that In parallel, i3's development team was engaged with the supply chain on staging potential operations within the 2017 timeframe."Liberator is an excellent foundational asset and we look forward to its commercialization as we broaden our portfolio."Glenwick entered into a £1.1m pre-IPO convertible investment into i3 in November 2016, and at the time it was the understanding of Glenwick's board that i3 would seek admission onto AIM through an IPO in order to raise funds for the Liberator Prospect."The Liberator Prospect had undeniably excellent economics when Glenwick invested, and with a 20% rise in the oil price since the time of our investment, those fundamentals have only increased," said Glenwick director Amanda Van Dyke."We are confident that the i3 team is working diligently on maximising the potential of the Prospect and has an excellent team in place to move towards commercial production."We look forward to the early part-realisation of this potential through the listing of i3's shares on the London market."