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LONDON (Alliance News) - Upland Resources Ltd on Tuesday said it has received unsolicited farm-in approaches for its Saouaf licence in Tunisia.
Shares in Upland were up 12% at 1.99 pence in morning trade in London.
Upland said it is progressing these approaches with "interested oil companies" and views the early interest as further validating the potential of Saouaf, which has a mean resource or around 2 trillion cubic feet of gas across 13 prospects and leads, including the estimated 813 billion recoverable Bou Dabbous Flower structure.
A USD1 million bank guarantee has been put in place for Saouaf, which will be released as work commitments on the licence are fulfilled.
Additionally, the Tunisian national oil company, Entreprise Tunisienne d'Activites Petrolieres, has asked Upland to consider farming in to specific producing gas fields in the country.
"A number of additional producing fields in Tunisia and elsewhere are also being assessed as candidates for a potential farm-in which would provide Upland with an ongoing revenue stream. These fields are mainly oil producers, at various stages of field life and most of which could provide Upland with net production rates in excess of 100" barrels per day, said Upland.
Outside of Tunisia, Upland has had meetings concerning the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Upland signed a memorandum of understanding in April with partner Brooke Dockyard & Engineering Works Corp to jointly assess and develop hydrocarbon assets in Sarawak.
Upland said it had "positive meetings" that "have progressed matters further on a number of fronts in Sarawak and more broadly in Malaysia where additional opportunities have been identified".
In the UK, Upland has put in its bid in the 31st offshore licencing round, which closed in November 2018. Upland's bid was with partners and concerned "a tranche of highly prospective acreage in the North Sea" and would see Upland hold a 40% stake. The result of the application is due in the current quarter of 2019.
"Our shareholders will know that we have not been vociferous in the media over the past weeks - but we have been busy making good progress on all fronts, and I am pleased to be able to provide this update now," said Upland Chief Executive Steve Staley.
"We are encouraged by industry recognition of the potential of the Saouaf licence and that ETAP are happy to help us find mutually beneficial investments. Good progress continues to be made in Sarawak, and we have used the knowledge we have gained in our work on the UK's Inner Moray Firth to guide us to what we believe is attractive North Sea acreage."