Last checked at 11 Oct 2021 07:00
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 (MAR). Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service (RIS), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
11 October 2021
Orcadian Energy plc
("Orcadian Energy", "Orcadian" or the "Company")
Farm-out of Carra Prospect
Orcadian Energy (AIM: ORCA), the North Sea focused oil and gas development company, is pleased to announce that the Company has entered into a non-binding Heads of Terms with Carrick Resources Limited ("Carrick") in respect of a sub-area of Licence P2320 which covers the Carra prospect ("Carra").
Under the terms of the agreement with Carrick, both parties are working towards the execution of a formal agreement, in respect of the assignment of the Carra interest, before 31 December 2021 (an "SPA"). Further updates will be provided in due course as appropriate.
If an SPA is executed Carrick will then purchase new seismic data relating to the Carra prospect, work up the Carra prospect to drill-ready status, and manage a further farm-out process on the prospect. In return, Orcadian will, subject to OGA approval, assign a 50% interest in the sub-area of licence P2320, which contains the bulk of the Carra prospect, to Carrick.
The Carra prospect lies to the East of the Crinan and Dandy discoveries and to the South of Fyne. The Carra prospect is contained in Tay and Cromarty sandstones which lie on trend with Guillemot West, and is a stratigraphic trap associated with a clear amplitude anomaly defined by 3D seismic. The Carra prospect has been previously estimated to contain P50 recoverable prospective resources of 30 MMbbls of medium gravity oil (Carrick has provided these initial estimates of recoverable volumes).
The sub-area of P2320 which is subject to this agreement can be viewed at this link: https://bit.ly/carra-subarea
Steve Brown, Orcadian's CEO, said:
"We are delighted to be co-operating with Carrick to make the most of the exploration potential of our acreage. Progressing Pilot and the prospects close to Pilot is our main focus and partnering with Carrick to develop a drill-ready prospect on Carra means we will leave no stone unturned in our strategy to maximise value from our assets."
Qualified Person's Statement
Pursuant to the requirements of the AIM Rules and in particular, the AIM Note for Mining and Oil and Gas Companies, Greg Harding has reviewed and approved the technical information and resource reporting contained in this announcement. Greg has more than 35 years' experience in the oil & gas industry. He holds a BEng in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College and is a Chartered Engineer, European Engineer, and a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, the Energy Institute and the Institute of Chemical Engineers. Greg is Technical Director of Orcadian Energy.
For further information on the Company please visit the Company's website: https://orcadian.energy
Contact:
Orcadian Energy plc | + 44 20 7920 3150 |
Steve Brown, CEO Alan Hume, CFO |
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WH Ireland (Nomad and Joint Broker) | +44 20 7220 1666 |
Harry Ansell / Fraser Marshall (Corporate Broking) Katy Mitchell / Andrew de Andrade (Nomad) |
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Shore Capital (Joint Broker) | +44 20 7408 4090 |
Jerry Keen (Corporate Broking) Edward Mansfield / James O'Neill (Advisory) |
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Tavistock (PR) | + 44 20 7920 3150 |
Nick Elwes / Simon Hudson / Matthew Taylor | orcadian@tavistock.co.uk |
About Orcadian Energy
Orcadian Energy (CNS) Ltd ("CNS"), Orcadian's operating subsidiary, was founded in 2014 and is the sole licensee of P2244, which contains 78.8 MMbbl of 2P Reserves in the Pilot discovery, and of P2320 and P2482, which contain a further 77.8 MMbbl of 2C Contingent Resources in the Elke, Narwhal and Blakeney discoveries (as audited by Sproule, see the CPR in the Company's Admission Document for more details). Within these licences there are also 191 MMbbl of unrisked Prospective Resources. These licences are in blocks 21/27, 21/28, 28/2 and 28/3, and lie 150 kms due East of Aberdeen. The Company also has a 50% working interest in P2516, which contains the Fynn discoveries. P2516 is administered by the Parkmead Group and covers blocks 14/20g and 15/16g, which lie midway between the Piper and Claymore fields, 180 kms due East of Wick.
Pilot, which is the largest oilfield in Orcadian's portfolio was discovered by Fina in 1989 and has been well appraised. In total five wells and two sidetracks were drilled on Pilot, including a relatively short horizontal well which produced over 1,800 bbls/day on test. Orcadian's proposed development plan for Pilot is based upon a Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel, with over thirty wells to be drilled by a Jack-up rig through a pair of well head platforms and will include a floating wind turbine to provide much of the energy used in the production process. Emissions per barrel produced are expected to be about an eighth of the 2018 North Sea average and to lie in the lowest 5% of global oil production.
About Carrick Resources Limited
Carrick recently completed the sale of its 50% operated interest in the adjacent Block 21/28b (Licence P2451) containing the Fyne Field. First oil from Fyne is currently targeted during 2022.