HUR.L Regulatory News (HUR)

25 September 2017

Hurricane Energy plc

("Hurricane" or the "Company")

Lancaster EPS Field Development Plan Approval

Hurricane Energy plc, the UK based oil and gas company focused on hydrocarbon resources in naturally fractured basement reservoirs, is pleased to announce that it has received development and production consent for its Lancaster field development plan, the Early Production System ("EPS").

Dr Robert Trice, Chief Executive, commented:

"I am delighted that we have been granted consent for the Lancaster field development plan for the EPS phase of the Lancaster Field. With funding and regulatory approvals in hand, we can now fully focus on delivering the project within the target timeline of first oil in 1H 2019.

The Lancaster EPS is not only an essential step in planning for the full field development of the Company's Rona Ridge assets, but also represents a substantial development in its own right, with planned production of 17,000 barrels of oil per day.

I would like to thank the Oil and Gas Authority, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, and the Health & Safety Executive for their support in our achieving the first approval of a field development plan for a UK basement field. This is an important step in demonstrating the potential of basement West of Shetland and in the UKCS more generally.

We greatly appreciate the contributions provided to date by our key contractors and partners: Bluewater Energy Services, TechnipFMC, and Transocean. We look forward to providing further updates as we move forward with engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning (EPIC) activities."

Contacts: 

About Hurricane

Hurricane was established to discover, appraise and develop hydrocarbon resources associated with naturally fractured basement reservoirs.

Hurricane's acreage is concentrated on the Rona Ridge, West of Shetland. The Lancaster licence, the Company's most appraised asset, has combined 2P Reserves and 2C Resources of 523 million barrels. In addition, the Company has 205 million barrels of oil equivalent on its Whirlwind licence (under the Whirlwind oil case).

During the 2016-2017 drilling campaign the Company made two significant discoveries* at Halifax and Lincoln, indicating that the Greater Lancaster Area and the Greater Warwick Area have the potential to be two large accumulations.

*Discovery under SPE PRMS definitions

Forward looking statements and dates referenced in this announcement, in relation to Hurricane's exploration and development assets, are estimates and subject to change. Oil and gas operations, particularly those relating to development stage assets are subject to varying inputs that may impact timing, including inter alia permitting; environmental regulation; changes to regulators and regulation; third party manufacturers and service providers and the weather. The Company's estimates of timing for forward looking operations are based on the best information it has to hand at the time, however these timings may change with little or no notice to the Company. The Company will update the market as and when it becomes aware of a material change to any of the operations or timings referenced in this announcement.