16 Dec 2014 11:44
16 December 2014 For immediate release
InfraStrata plc
("InfraStrata" or the "Company")
Asset Exchange Agreement with Fyrd Energy
The Board of InfraStrata plc (AIM:INFA), the independent petroleum exploration and gas storage company, is pleased to announce that it has signed a binding Heads of Agreement for an Asset Exchange ("Agreement") with Fyrd Energy Limited ("Fyrd").
Under the terms of the Agreement, InfraStrata will acquire a 25% interest in UK Promote Licence P2235, recently offered to Fyrd in the Department of Energy and Climate Change ("DECC") 28th Seaward Licencing Round. The assignment will be subject to DECC approval. In return, InfraStrata will assign its rights and intellectual property in the Portland project (excluding the gas pipeline construction authorisation and associated rights) to a new project company Integrated GeoRenewables (Dorset) Limited ("IGR"), managed by the principals of Fyrd, Alan Booth and Jon Taylor. InfraStrata will hold a 22.5% shareholding in IGR and be carried for the first £200,000 of expenditure by IGR. IGR will also be granted an option to acquire the gas pipeline rights from InfraStrata, in return for the Company being carried for a further £200,000 of expenditure by IGR.
IGR will seek to evaluate the potential to develop an integrated geo-renewable energy project with a hub in the Portland area of Dorset. There are already a number of renewable projects planned for the area (wind and tidal). IGR believes there is the potential to use the unique deep geology of the area to improve the efficiency of renewable generation, using such technologies as geothermal energy or compressed air storage. The existing sub-surface geological and engineering work (including deep drilling and seismic data), surface facilities engineering and environmental work undertaken by InfraStrata for its former planned gas storage project at Portland will have a significant value for IGR.
P2235 comprises Block 11/24b (part) and contains the Wild Boar Prospect, 3 kilometres North East of and structurally updip of the producing Lybster oilfield within the Moray Firth. Fyrd estimates that if successful the Minimum, Most Likely and Maximum Prospective Resources to be 10, 70 and 266 million barrels of oil ("mmbo") respectively (net InfraStrata 2.5, 17.5, 66.5 mmbo respectively). The prospect lies close to the coast and there is the potential to drill an exploration well from onshore to offshore.
Andrew Hindle, the CEO of InfraStrata plc said:
"This transaction fits well with our strategy of acquiring front-end exploration opportunities. In this case we have been able to leverage access to the opportunity by securing value from our Portland project assets.
The exploration project is a high impact project for a company of InfraStrata's size and widens our exposure to exploration opportunities in the UK. Two of InfraStrata's existing projects involve onshore to offshore drilling, at Islandmagee and in Dorset, and so InfraStrata will be able to bring useful expertise and insights to the Joint Venture.
InfraStrata is also excited to be part of a new phase in developing opportunities in the Portland area, which could have material upside for the Company in the coming years."
For further information please contact:
InfraStrata plc
Andrew Hindle, Chief Executive Officer 020 8332 1200
Stewart McGarrity, Finance Director
Financial PR - Buchanan
Richard Darby/ Anna Michniewicz 020 7466 5000
Nominated Advisor and Joint Broker - Arden Partners plc
Chris Hardie/ Michael McNeilly 020 7614 5917
Joint Broker - VSA Capital Limited
Andrew Raca/ Richard Buckle 020 3005 5004
Notes to Editors:
Background on InfraStrata plc
InfraStrata is an independent petroleum exploration and gas storage company focused on the UK and Ireland.
Further information is available on the Company's website www.infrastrata.co.uk.
In accordance with the AIM Rules - Note for Mining and Oil and Gas Companies, the information contained in this announcement has been reviewed and signed off by the Chief Executive Officer of InfraStrata plc Andrew Hindle BSc, MSc, PhD, a Chartered Geologist with 28 years' experience, a Fellow of the Geological Society of London, and a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain.