Award of Six New Licences in UK 28th Round

RNS Number : 6828W

Parkmead Group (The) PLC

11 November 2014

 



11 November 2014

The Parkmead Group plc

("Parkmead", "the Company" or "the Group")

Six new licences awarded to Parkmead in UK 28^th Licensing Round

Parkmead is delighted to announce that it has been provisionally awarded six new licences covering a total of nine offshore blocks in the UK 28th Licensing Round, as announced by the Energy Minister. These newly awarded licences are located in the Central and Southern North Sea areas and will all be operated by Parkmead. Three of the new licences significantly increase Parkmead's asset base around the Company's large Perth Dolphin Lowlander (PDL) oil hub development project.

These awards, which include new exploration prospects as well as proven discoveries, follow on from Parkmead securing eight new licences covering a total of 30 offshore blocks in the UK 27th Licensing Round awards. The new licence awards take Parkmead's total number of oil and gas blocks across the UK and the Netherlands to 61, with 48 of these being operated by the Group. These new licences complement Parkmead's strong existing asset base of oil and gas production, new exploration prospects and the major PDL oil hub development.

Parkmead has also applied for certain licences in the 28th Round within the Southern Gas Basin and West of Shetland region, where the Company already has significant operations. Parkmead notes that the remaining 28th Round awards are expected to be announced at a later date after further assessment of these specific areas by the UK Government.

Tom Cross, Executive Chairman, commented:

"We are delighted with these major new licence awards, which further increase the scale of Parkmead's oil and gas operations in the UK. We are particularly pleased with the awards located close to our large PDL development, as they have the potential to add significant value to the project.

These awards complete an exceptional year for Parkmead, during which we have substantially increased production and discovered two new gas fields through our highly successful exploration programme.

The new licences strengthen Parkmead's portfolio of exploration, development and producing assets, which will underpin the Company's continued growth."

The following awards have been offered to Parkmead and its joint bidding groups:

Greater Perth Dolphin Lowlander (PDL) Area

Parkmead has been awarded three new licences located close to the large PDL hub project in the Central North Sea, which include stakes in five blocks.

Blocks 20/3c & 20/4a (Parkmead 50% and operator) are located in the Outer Moray Firth Basin, approximately 20km East of the significant Buzzard field. The blocks contain two sizeable existing Buzzard sandstone discoveries, named Polecat and Marten. These oil discoveries could potentially be hugely valuable to Parkmead as, given their proximity close to PDL, they could be jointly developed as part of the project. Polecat was discovered in 2005 and appraised in 2010. The 2010 appraisal well was flow tested at 4,373 barrels of oil per day. The Marten discovery was made in 1984, encountering three oil bearing sandstones of Upper Buzzard age. The blocks also contain a Buzzard sandstone prospect (Badger) to the north of Polecat that could add to the existing reserves base within the licence. Parkmead will benefit from the large amount of existing data on the block, gathered as a result of wells already drilled in the area. Parkmead's co-venturer on this licence is Atlantic Petroleum.

Block 14/25 (Parkmead 52% and operator) is situated adjacent to the Parkmead operated Perth field in the Central North Sea. Detailed mapping and seismic interpretation indicates an extension to the Perth field (Perth West). An additional prospect has been identified on the block at Lower Cretaceous Scapa level. The work programme consists of obtaining 3D seismic to mature the prospects and a drill or drop well. Parkmead's existing Perth partners are the co-venturer's on the Block; Faroe Petroleum and Atlantic Petroleum.

Blocks 15/11 & 15/16f (Parkmead 25% and operator) are situated on the northern margin of the prolific Witch Ground Graben in the Central North Sea, approximately 12km North of Parkmead's Perth field and close to the large Tartan and Piper oil fields. Two significant prospects, Fynn and Penny, have been identified in the Upper Jurassic Piper Formation on the blocks. The work programme consists of reprocessing existing 3D seismic data and drilling a contingent well. Parkmead's partners on the new licence are Faroe Petroleum, CalEnergy Gas and Verus Petroleum.

Central North Sea

Parkmead has been awarded a further two licences in the prolific Central North Sea area.

Block 30/17e (Parkmead 30.5% and operator) lies adjacent to the blocks containing the Skerryvore prospect in the Central Graben area of the North Sea. Parkmead's extensive mapping and seismic analysis indicates that the Skerryvore Chalk prospect extends into Block 30/17e. The Skerryvore structure consists of two stacked prospects at Palaeocene and Chalk level in the immediate area associated with a Zechstein salt diapir. The Skerryvore Palaeocene prospect is thought to be a southerly extension of the Talbot oil discovery to the north, and the deeper Skerryvore Chalk prospect shows a similar seismic response to the neighbouring Cawdor discovery. A site survey has now been completed providing detailed technical information on the Skerryvore location ahead of the prospect being drilled in 2015. The Skerryvore prospect has the potential to contain up to 122 million barrels of recoverable oil on a most likely, P50 basis. Parkmead's existing Skerryvore partners are the co-venturer's on Block 30/17e; Atlantic Petroleum, Verus Petroleum and Dyas.

Block 16/22c (Parkmead 28% and operator) is situated on the Fladen Ground Spur in the Central North Sea, and lies approximately 10km North East of the large Britannia and Alba fields. Two prospects have been identified on the block, one at Palaeocene level which overlies another prospect at Devonian level. Parkmead will undertake a work programme consisting of reprocessing 3D seismic with a drill or drop well. Parkmead's co-venturers on the licence are Atlantic Petroleum, Verus Petroleum and Dyas.

Southern North Sea

Parkmead has been awarded a new licence consisting of two blocks in the Southern Gas Basin, an area where Parkmead is building a significant portfolio.

Blocks 42/19 & 42/20b (Parkmead 50% and operator) are located adjacent to Parkmead's existing acreage targeting the Farne propect, which was awarded in November 2013. The major prospect on the new licence is an extension of the Farne prospect. The work programme consists of obtaining 3D seismic data and a drill or drop well. Our partner on the licence is Verus Petroleum.

Enquiries:

The Parkmead Group plc
Tom Cross (Executive Chairman)	[phone]
Ryan Stroulger (Chief Financial Officer)	[phone]
Charles Stanley Securities (Financial Adviser, NOMAD and Corporate Broker to Parkmead)
Marc Milmo	[phone]
Karri Vuori	[phone]
Carl Holmes	[phone]
Instinctif Partners Limited (PR Adviser to Parkmead)
David Simonson	[phone]
Catherine Wickman	[phone]

Notes to Editors:

1.  The Parkmead Group is an independent oil and gas, exploration and production company listed on the London Stock Exchange (symbol: PMG), and is a constituent of the FTSE AIM 100 index. Parkmead is focused on growth in the UK and Netherlands, targeting transactions at both asset and corporate levels.

2.  Dr Colin Percival, Parkmead's Technical Director, who holds a First Class Honours Degree in Geology and a Ph.D in Sedimentology and has over 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this announcement.

3.  In November 2011, Parkmead completed the acquisition of stakes in UK Blocks 48/1a, 47/5b and 48/1c containing the Platypus gas field and the Possum gas prospect. Mapping indicates the potential for Platypus and Possum to contain up to 180 and 100 billion cubic feet of gas in place, respectively.

4.  In December 2011, Parkmead agreed to acquire stakes in blocks 47/4d, 47/5d, 47/10c and 48/6c in the UK Southern North Sea, which contained the Pharos gas prospect. These two gas-basin acquisitions were important steps in the first stage of Parkmead's development as a new independent energy company.

5.  In March 2012, Parkmead agreed to acquire a portfolio of Netherlands onshore assets comprising four producing gas fields and two oil fields from Dyas B.V. This acquisition provided the Group with its first producing fields and with future oil developments at Ottoland and Papekop. This acquisition completed in August 2012.

6.  In May 2012, Parkmead launched its recommended acquisition of DEO Petroleum plc. As a result, Parkmead now owns 52% and is operator of the UKCS Perth oil field, which is targeting Proven and Probable (2P) reserves of 41.3 million barrels of oil (21.5 million barrels of oil net to Parkmead).

7.  In October 2012, Parkmead was awarded several new licences under the UKCS 27^th Licensing Round. The six new licences comprise interests in a total of 25 offshore blocks or partial blocks across the Central North Sea, West of Scotland and West of Shetland.

8.  In July 2013, Parkmead completed its recommended offer for Lochard Energy Group plc.  This gave Parkmead a 10% interest in the producing Athena oil field.

9.  In December 2013, Parkmead agreed to acquire a further 20 per cent. interest in the Athena oil field from EWE VERTRIEB GmbH, trebling Parkmead's interest in the Athena oil field to 30 per cent.

10. Also in December 2013, in the second tranche of the UKCS 27^th Licensing Round, Parkmead was awarded a further five UK blocks through two new licences in the UK Southern North Sea. That made a total award to Parkmead of 30 UK blocks across eight licences within the UKCS 27^th Licensing Round.

11. In January 2014, Parkmead completed a successful, oversubscribed placing raising US$66.0 million which provided the Company with increased financial firepower and balance sheet strength.

12. In April 2014, Parkmead completed the acquisition of a 20 per cent. interest in the Athena oil field from EWE VERTRIEB GmbH, trebling Parkmead's interest in the Athena oil field to 30 per cent.

13. In September 2014, Parkmead discovered a new gas field onshore the Netherlands at Diever West.

14. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Aupec Limited, the Parkmead Group provides petroleum benchmarking and economics expertise to a wide range of government bodies and international oil and gas companies. Aupec has to date worked with over 100 governments, national oil companies, majors and independents, across the world, as well as a number of multi-national agencies such as the European Commission and the World Bank. Aupec is currently undertaking an important benchmarking project for a group of the world's largest super-major oil companies.

For further information please refer to Parkmead's website at www.parkmeadgroup.com.

 

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