KEYFACT Energy
Award of Blocks 14/15c, 15/11c, 15/12a, and 15/13c (Licence P2480) to United in UK 31st Licensing Round on a 100% basis
Award in line with United's European-area strategy to identify and acquire low-risk assets that offer investors near term value trigger opportunities and significant value upside
United Oil & Gas Plc confirms that further to the announcement of 5 June 2019, it has accepted the formal offer from the Oil and Gas Authority, the UK oil and gas regulator, of a 100% interest in Blocks 14/15c, 15/11c, 15/12a, and 15/13c (Licence P2480), with the licence term beginning 15 July 2019. The four highly prospective blocks in the Central North Sea cover an area of c. 500 sq km, and include the Zeta prospect, which United estimates could contain over 90 million barrels of in-place oil. The Blocks, which lie 10km from United's Crown Discovery, are close to the Marigold and Yeoman discoveries and the substantial Piper, MacCulloch and Claymore oil fields.
The Blocks have been awarded on the basis of a low-cost work programme involving the purchase of an existing high-quality 3D seismic dataset and detailed geological and geophysical analysis. This analysis is planned to better quantify the chance of success and reduce the uncertainty on the estimated oil volumes, ahead of making a drilling commitment.
United Oil & Gas Plc COO, Jonathan Leather, said,
"We are delighted with these awards, which, based on extensive technical work carried out over the available acreage ahead of the application were our primary focus for the 31st Round.
"This is our second successful UK licencing round and our largest award to date. United has done well to be included in the roster of companies which have been successful in this round, including Chrysaor, Equinor, Chevron and Total."