Europa Oil & Gas Regulatory News (EOG)

Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc / Index: AIM / Epic: EOG / Sector: Oil & Gas 3 October 2013 Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc (`Europa' or `the Company') Renewal of Béarn des Gaves Permit, Onshore France and Technical Update Including Un-risked Indicative Resources for Berenx Shallow Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc, the AIM listed oil and gas exploration,development and production company focused on Europe, is pleased to announcethe renewal of its 100% owned Béarn des Gaves permit (`Béarn des Gaves' or `thePermit'), in the proven Aquitaine Basin, onshore France. The Permit includesBerenx Deep, the large gas appraisal prospect, and the recently identifiedBerenx Shallow prospect. The permit is located 20km to the southeast of theproducing 9 trillion cubic feet (`tcf') Lacq gas field. Highlights * Béarn des Gaves permit successfully renewed for a period of five years until 23 March 2017 with farm-out process to recommence immediately * Significant upgrade in gross mean un-risked resources for Berenx Shallow prospect to 416bcf following a detailed mapping exercise * Permit located in a proven hydrocarbon region in onshore France: * + adjacent to two giant producing gas fields, Lacq (9 tcf) and Meillon (2 tcf) + two wells previously drilled on the Permit at Berenx Deep which ERC Equipoise has assigned a gross mean contingent resource of 277bcf - both wells encountered strong gas shows and one flowed gas to surface * Reservoir at Berenx Shallow is early Cretaceous and Late Jurassic limestones and dolomites characterised by dual matrix and fracture porosity * Next steps are to confirm well location, commence well permitting process, commence drilling planning - objective to drill a well to test Berenx Shallow in 2014 Hugh Mackay, CEO of Europa, commented, "We are delighted with the renewal ofBéarn des Gaves, particularly as over the last twelve months we have undertakena thorough re-evaluation of the shallow structures, reservoir distribution andhistoric well results which has significantly increased our understanding ofthe prospectivity in the Permit. The resulting definition of gross meanun-risked resources of 416bcf for Berenx Shallow, and the already discoveredBerenx Deep appraisal project with an estimated gross mean contingent resourceof 277 bcf (ERC Equipoise CPR dated 31 May 2012) confirms the transformativepotential of this 100% owned Permit. We look forward to recommencing thefarmout process immediately with a view to drilling in 2014." "Alongside Berenx we have a 15% interest in two high impact frontier licencesin the Irish Atlantic Margin. Kosmos Energy, the operator, is currentlyacquiring 3D seismic over the licence area as it looks to pursue in the SouthPorcupine basin similar Cretaceous plays to those that it successfullypioneered in the Atlantic Margin basins offshore West Africa. Meanwhile our UKonshore fields continue to produce oil in line with our expectations, and inaddition our exploration licences contain several leads and prospects,including Wressle, where we are due to drill a well towards the end of 2013.With much activity expected across our licences, I look forward to providingupdates on our progress as we continue to steadily de-risk and deliver thevalue in our assets." Béarn des Gaves: Europa holds a 100% interest in the Béarn des Gaves permit with both appraisaland exploration potential in the Aquitaine basin, the heartland of the Frenchoil industry. The Berenx Deep appraisal project has previously been exploredand drilled by EssoRep with two wells drilled, Berenx-1 (1969) and Berenx-2(1972), both encountering strong gas shows over a 500m thick gas bearing zone.In 1975 Berenx-2 was re-entered, drill stem tested and flowed gas to surfacefrom the same carbonate reservoir that delivered 9 tcf and 2 tcf from nearbyfields at Lacq and Meillon. Europa possesses all data connected to both wells. Good quality 2-D seismicdata exists for the licence as well as a reprocessed 3-D seismic datasetcovering the area between Berenx and Lacq. Europa's in-house technical workindicates that the Berenx deep appraisal prospect could hold in excess of 500bcf of recoverable gas resources. In a CPR dated 31 May 2012, ERC Equipoiseestimated gross mean un-risked resources of 277 bcf for the deep Berenx gasplay. The difference between Europa's and ERC's assessment of resourcesreflects the confidence of each party in mapping in a geologically complexterrain. Europa was able to map a larger area of closure and as a consequencelarger resources. On-going re-evaluation and interpretation of existing seismic and well data onthe Permit has resulted in the better definition of a shallow gas prospect,Berenx Shallow. Previous exploration on the concession had focused only on thedeep lying gas prospectivity. A thorough review of historic well results,re-interpretation of structure and proven hydrocarbon bearing reservoirdistribution in the shallow (less than 4000m) Cretaceous and Late Jurassiccarbonate sediments by Europa has upgraded the Berenx Shallow gas prospectivityand suggests potential gross mean un-risked resources of 416 bcf. Gross un-risked resources bcf Reservoir P90 P50 P10 mean Neocomian 126 240 402 254 Kimmeridgian 66 156 261 162 total 416 The Company's strategy for Béarn des Gaves is to first target the shallow gasplay, drill a well to deliver a commercial flow rate and, on the back ofsuccess, to further appraise shallow prospectivity and undertake work tode-risk the Berenx Deep appraisal project. Europa submitted its application for the renewal of Béarn des Gaves in November2011 and the renewal process formally started on 22 March 2012. On 3 October2013, the Company was informed by the French authorities that the Permit hasbeen successfully renewed. This next phase covers a period of five years from22 March 2012 and carries an expenditure commitment of approximately €2.5million. The Directors intend to immediately commence a farm-out process forthe Permit in tandem with well permitting and drilling planning to confirm awell location on Berenx Shallow ahead of drilling in 2014. The Permit benefits from being located only 20 km from the Lacq Field, whichpotentially provides a straightforward export route, allowing gas to beprocessed in an existing facility with spare capacity. * * ENDS * * For further information please visit www.europaoil.com or contact: Hugh Mackay Europa + 44 (0) 20 7224 3770 Phil Greenhalgh Matt Goode finnCap Ltd +44 (0) 20 7220 0500 Henrik Persson Frank Buhagiar St Brides Media and Finance Ltd +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 Lottie Brocklehurst Notes Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc has a diversified portfolio of multi-stagehydrocarbon assets that includes production, exploration and developmentinterests, in countries that are politically stable, have transparent licensingprocesses, and offer attractive terms. The Company currently producesapproximately 180 boepd in the UK, generating sufficient revenues to covercorporate overheads. Its highly prospective exploration projects include theWressle prospect in the UK where a well is due to be drilled towards the end of2013; and a joint venture with leading independent Kosmos Energy to explore twolicences in offshore Ireland in which Europa has identified two prospects withestimated gross mean un-risked indicative resources of 482 million barrels oiland 1.6 billion barrels oil respectively. Qualified Person Review This release has been reviewed by Hugh Mackay, Chief Executive of Europa, whois a petroleum geologist with 30 years' experience in petroleum exploration anda member of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain, AmericanAssociation of Petroleum Geologists and Fellow of the Geological Society. MrMackay has consented to the inclusion of the technical information in thisrelease in the form and context in which it appears.