24th Nov 2025 07:00

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DEEMED BY THE COMPANY TO CONSTITUTE INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) NO. 596/2014 AS IT FORMS PART OF UK DOMESTIC LAW PURSUANT TO THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018, AS AMENDED. UPON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE, THIS INFORMATION IS CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.
24 November 2025
Orcadian Energy plc
("Orcadian" or the "Company")
Pilot Field Extension of Licence P2244
Orcadian Energy plc is delighted to report that the UK's North Sea oil and gas regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority ("NSTA") has approved a three-year extension to the Second Term of the Pilot Licence P2244.
The new licence expiry date is now 1 December 2028.
P2244 contains the Pilot field and Orcadian has an 18.75% carried interest in the licence. The operator of the licence is preparing a refreshed sub-surface description of the Pilot field, informed by the high-quality 3D seismic provided by TGS ASA, and supported by the Orcadian team as they progress the project towards a Final Investment Decision. Securing this licence extension to enable the development and submission of an updated field development plan has obviously been essential and Orcadian looks forward to supporting the operator to deliver a plan that maximises oil recovery and minimises carbon dioxide emissions in the production process.
Steve Brown, Orcadian CEO, said:
"Pilot can be a new low-carbon hub on the Western Platform in the Central North Sea with the potential to produce a total recoverable resource of well over 100 mmbbl from Pilot and adjacent discoveries. Exploration success and renewed licensing of near-infrastructure discoveries could raise the potential recovery from this hub to nearly 500 mmbbl.
"This licence extension our operator the time and space to design a low-emissions development scheme that can thrive in the post-EPL fiscal regime that has been proposed and consulted on by Treasury, which everyone in the industry is awaiting with bated breath and which is the fiscal regime that matters for Orcadian's projects."
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 | |
Zeus (Nomad and Joint Broker) | +44 20 3829 5000 |
Darshan Patel / John Moran (Investment Banking) Simon Johnson (Corporate Broking) | |
Albr (Joint Broker) | +44 207 399 9425 |
Colin Rowbury / Jon Belliss |

Western platform oil and gas fields and FPSO facilities, Orcadian blocks in orange
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, Maurice Bamford has reviewed and approved the technical information and resource reporting contained in this announcement.
Maurice has more than 36 years' experience in the oil & gas industry and 3 years in academia. He holds a BSc in Geology from Queens University Belfast and a PhD in Geology from the National University of Ireland. Maurice is a Fellow of the Geological Society, London, and a member of the Geoscience Energy Society of Great Britain. He is Exploration and Geoscience Manager at Orcadian Energy.
About Orcadian Energy
Orcadian is a North Sea focused, low emissions, oil and gas exploration and development company. Orcadian may be a small operator, but it is also nimble, and the Directors believe it has grasped opportunities that have eluded some of the much bigger companies. As we strike a balance between Net Zero and a sustainable energy supply, Orcadian intends to play its part to minimise the cost of Net Zero and to deliver reliable energy to the UK.
Viscous oil
As part of its viscous oil strategy Orcadian has an 18.75% carried interest in the Pilot development project, Pilot was discovered by PetroFina in 1989 and has been well appraised. The field has excellent quality reservoir and has contingent resources of 79 MMbbl of a viscous oil ranging in gravity from 17º API in the South of the reservoir to 12º API in the North. In planning the Pilot development, Orcadian has selected polymer flooding and wind power to transform the production of viscous oil into a cleaner and greener process. Polymer significantly reduces fluid handling requirements and hence energy consumption as well as boosting recovery. Ithaca Energy, operator of the Captain field in the Inner Moray Firth, has enjoyed consistent success in applying polymer flood to the highly analogous Captain field. Following the recent farm-down of Pilot, the project is now under the stewardship of Ping Petroleum UK PLC ("Ping") and is intended to be amongst the lowest carbon emitting oil production facilities in the world.
Ping is progressing a low-emissions, phased, field development plan for Pilot based upon a polymer flood of the reservoir, a Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) and provision of power from a floating wind turbine or a local wind farm.
Orcadian has an 18.75% fully carried interest in Licence P2244 (block 21/27a) and a 100% interest in Licence P2482 (blocks 28/2a and 28/3a). Ping is operator of P2244 and the Pilot development project. P2482 covers the Elke and Narwhal discoveries which contain 53 MMbbl of contingent resources.
The Fynn licence (P2634) which was awarded in the 33rd Round contains a very substantial heavy oil discovery. About 88% of the resource on a best technical case is estimated to lie within the area of the licence. Orcadian has a 50% working interest in the Fynn licence which is operated by Serica Energy. The Fynn licence covers blocks 14/15a, 14/20d and 15/11a.
Gas to Artificial Intelligence
Orcadian was awarded two gas licences in the 33rd Round. The Mid-North Sea High licence, P2650, contains shallow gas leads. Orcadian applied in partnership with Triangle Energy, an Australian listed energy company. Orcadian is licence administrator and holds 50% of the licence. The Mid North Sea High licence covers blocks 29/16, 29/17, 29/18, 29/19, 29/21, 29/22, 29/23, 29/27 and 29/28.
The Earlham and Orwell licence, P2680, 100% Orcadian, contains the Earlham discovery, a low-calorie gas discovery with 114 bcf of methane resources on a P50 basis, the Clover prospect which has P50 prospective resources of 153 bcf, and the decommissioned Orwell field which has redevelopment potential, alongside a number of smaller prospects.
Orcadian, with its proposed partners The Independent Power Corporation plc ("IPC") and The Marine Low Carbon Power Company Ltd ("MLCP"), intends to develop Earlham to supply gas to a power station to be constructed by MLCP and located adjacent to the field. The generated power is planned to be exported to data centres located on the M25 corridor, where demand for clean, dispatchable electricity has risen beyond the grid's current capacity. Carbon dioxide produced from the reservoir and from the combustion of gas is intended to be reinjected into the Earlham field to maintain reservoir pressure and enhance gas recovery
Orcadian intends progressing these and other projects in partnership with IPC through its 50% -owned, tax-advantaged, HALO subsidiary. Since 2013 HALO has incurred around £50 million of pre-trading capital expenditures which we expect will generate, on commencement of a ring-fence trade, tax allowances in the region of £115 million when Ring Fence Expenditure Supplement is applied. Orcadian continues to evaluate opportunities to acquire development and producing opportunities for HALO.
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