16th Feb 2015 07:00
EUROPA OIL & GAS (HOLDINGS) PLC - Farm-Out of Tarbes Permit in FranceEUROPA OIL & GAS (HOLDINGS) PLC - Farm-Out of Tarbes Permit in France
PR Newswire
London, February 13
Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc / Index: AIM / Epic: EOG / Sector: Oil & Gas 16 February 2015 Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc (`Europa' or `the Company') Farm-Out of Tarbes Permit in France Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc, the AIM quoted oil and gas exploration anddevelopment company with a combination of producing and exploration assets inEurope, is pleased to announce it has signed a Farm-Out Agreement (`FOA') inrelation to its 100% owned Tarbes Val d'Adour Permit (`Tarbes') onshore Francewith Vermilion REP SAS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vermilion Energy Inc(`Vermilion') a Calgary, Alberta based international oil and gas producer.Tarbes has previously produced oil from two fields and is located in theAquitaine basin close to the giant Lacq - Meillon gas fields. This update is inline with Europa's strategy to advance and monetise its multi-stage portfolioof licences. * Under the terms of the FOA, Vermilion acquires an 80% interest in, and operatorship of, Tarbes with Europa holding the remaining 20% interest. * Should Vermilion decide to proceed with exploration activities, they will assume 100% of the cost of an optional work programme, which may include seismic acquisition/reprocessing and drilling operations up to a total of € 4.65 million. Once costs above this level are incurred, Europa will be responsible for its 20% share of future work programme costs * Tarbes contains several oil accumulations that were previously licensed by Elf but were abandoned in 1985 due to a combination of technical issues and low oil prices. Two fields, Jacque and Osmets, were drilled using vertical wells and generated modest production. * The FOA is subject to the relevant approvals being granted by the French authorities - for the transfer of equity and operatorship to Vermilion and obtaining an extension for the permit. Both these approvals processes have already started. The farm-out process for Europa's other French permit "Bearn des Gaves", alsoin the Aquitaine basin, is on-going in parallel with planning and permittingfor a Berenx shallow well to evaluate the 107 bcf gross mean un-riskedcontingent resources. A lease has been obtained for the drill site and drillingpermit documentation is currently being exchanged with the French authorities. Europa's CEO, Hugh Mackay said, "Vermilion is the leading exploration andproduction company currently active in France with net production ofapproximately 11,000 boepd. They have an excellent technical and operationaltrack record with specific experience of workovers, infill drilling, andsecondary recovery opportunities. They are the ideal partner for us on thispermit, and we look forward to working alongside them, as we progress Tarbes upthe value curve. "2015 promises to be an exciting year with operations at Wressle and Kiln Lanecontinuing as previously announced. We will provide further updates withrespect to progress when appropriate. We also anticipate the possibility ofexpanding our UK portfolio via the 14th onshore licensing round and mostimportantly a drill decision by Kosmos on our Irish licenses. Following on fromour announcement last week about testing oil at Wressle completing the firstFrench farmout is another good start to the year." * * ENDS * * For further information please visit www.europaoil.com or contact: Hugh Mackay Europa +44 (0) 20 7224 3770 Phil Greenhalgh Europa +44 (0) 20 7224 3770 Matt Goode finnCap Ltd +44 (0) 20 7220 0500 Henrik Persson finnCap Ltd +44 (0) 20 7220 0500 Frank Buhagiar St Brides Media and Finance Ltd +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 Lottie St Brides Media and Finance Ltd +44 (0) 20 7236 1177Brocklehurst 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 produced 165 boepd in the UKduring the 2013/2014 financial year, generating sufficient revenues to covercorporate overheads and some exploration expenditure. Its highly prospectiveexploration projects include the Wressle (recently drilled andcurrentlyundergoing production testing) and Kiln Lane prospects (due to bedrilled in Q1 2015) in the UK; 100% owned gas exploration prospect (107 bcf)and appraisal project (CPR 277 bcf) in onshore France; and a joint venture withleading independent Kosmos to explore two licences in offshore Ireland with thepotential to host gross mean unrisked prospective resources of 1.5 billionbarrels.
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