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LONDON (Alliance News) - i3 Energy PLC on Thursday said it has signed a letter of intent for a multi-well drill campaign across it Liberator field and Serenity prospect located in the North Sea, north-east of Aberdeen.
Shares in oil and gas company i3 Energy were up 17% on Thursday morning at 60.70 pence.
The letter intent was signed with Dolphin Drilling Ltd for a consecutive three-well campaign across the Liberator field and Serenity prospect. Liberator, according to i3 Energy, has a stock tank oil-in-place estimate of 314 million barrels, while Serenity has an estimated 197 million barrels.
The first well is expected to spud in June at its A3 appraisal well in Liberator west.
i3 Energy said that, if appraisal and development are successful, it would produce over 200 million barrels from its current licences.
The company has also received offtake terms from two parties for its Liberator phase one production.
At present, i3 Energy is "negotiating terms and expects near-term agreement" for between USD100 million and USD130 million of debt for appraisal drilling and its Liberator phase 1 development capital expenditure.
The 2019 three-well campaign is expected to cost around USD41 million with additional capital expense to first oil in 2020 of approximately USD90 million. i3 Energy said these figured include "considerable contingency".
Moreover, i3 Energy also said it has received a "strong response" to its joint venture farm out process and expects its bid date to be set in February.
"We are very pleased with the progress we are making to move the Liberator field towards development and with the ongoing technical maturation of the upside in our acreage to drill ready status. We look forward to the completion of our [field development plan] and funding initiatives and the commencement of a very exciting drilling programme this summer," said i3 Energy Chief Executive Majid Shafiq.