San Leon Energy Update

RNS Number : 7483P

San Leon Energy PLC

21 August 2014

 



21 August 2014

San Leon Energy plc

("San Leon Energy" or "the Company")

San Leon Energy Update

San Leon Energy, the AIM listed company focused on oil and gas exploration in Europe and North Africa, provides an update for the following areas:

·     Palomar plans to spud a well on Rawicz in Q4 2014

·     New three-well drilling programme to begin in the Karpaty area and Permian Basin, Poland; rig secured and first well to spud in mid-September

·     The planned Lewino horizontal shale well in the Gdansk W concession is in final engineering, awaiting the results of ConocoPhilips/3Legs and BNK testing of similar wells in the Baltic Basin

·     Timahdit oil shale in Morocco produced first oil during Enefit Bench Tests

·     The Nour prospect, offshore Morocco, targeting 300 MMboe, is currently being drilled as announced on 31 July 2014

·     As part of its asset optimisation strategy, the Company has exited Germany and Slovakia. In Poland, nine concessions have been partly or fully relinquished, while the Company has also relinquished the Tarfaya oil shale licence in Morocco, where the Timahdit licence offers greater oil shale potential.

Palomar Partnership Assets:

Further to the announcement of the Palomar Natural Resources Joint Venture on 1 July 2014, Palomar has now assumed day-to-day running of the various joint operations. Palomar has established a Warsaw office and several San Leon staff have moved to Palomar. Palomar plans to spud a well on Rawicz in Q4 2014 and is actively working up plans for the other areas of the joint venture.

New Three-Well Polish Drilling Programme:

The Company intends to drill two exploration wells in the Karpaty area and one exploration well in the Permian Basin in Poland during a single campaign using a rig from Exalo, beginning in mid-September.  All wells are relatively shallow and are in a proven hydrocarbon trend area.  All three wells are expected to be completed before the end of the year:-

1.    Kęty, on the Bestwina concession in Karpaty, targeting gas in Miocene sandstone with a 4 Bcf mid-case recoverable target.  60% San Leon Energy (Operator), 40% PGNiG.

2.    Gierałtowice on the Bielsko-Biała concession in Karpaty, targeting gas in the Upper Carboniferous sandstone primary target and Lower Carboniferous limestone secondary target with a  4 Bcf mid-case recoverable target.  60% San Leon Energy (Operator), 40% PGNiG.

3.    Niwiska, on Block 243 in the Permian Basin, targeting oil, in the naturally-fractured Main Dolomite, with a 400,000 bbl mid-case recoverable target plus some gas.  San Leon Energy will operate the well, and this drilling will fulfill the final stage of its farm-in, leaving the equity split 50% San Leon Energy and 50% Celtique Energy.

Lewino Horizontal (Baltic Basin, Poland):

The planned Lewino horizontal well in the Gdansk W shale gas concession is in advanced engineering planning.  Finalisation of the well and frac design, and a decision to drill, will be taken following analysis of results from the nearby ConocoPhilips/3Legs and BNK wells. All operators in Poland share well results and detailed drilling information to expedite the development of the region's shale resource.  We have seen very recent heightened interest in farming in to the concession.

Oil Shale Sampling And Bench Testing, Morocco:

Surface and core sampling of oil shale from the Timahdit oil shale project was completed earlier this year. These samples are currently the subject of bench tests at the EOT/Enefit facility in Frankfurt, Germany to confirm the quality of the various layers of oil shale, and the oil yield possible from those layers.

Oil has successfully flowed from the Enefit retort process, and while tests and analysis are ongoing, the initial results are very encouraging. Final results will be utilised to update the project feasibility study and enable consideration of the upgrading options for the raw oil.

Asset Management:

Following technical work to appraise all licences as part of its asset management strategy, the Company has:

·     Relinquished its licence in Germany

·     Made a decision to relinquish its assets in Italy

·     Sold its Slovakian subsidiary, Aurelian Oil & Gas Slovakia ("AOGS") s.r.o to Discovery Polska LLP, a private Texas based company. AOGS holds a fifty percent interest in the Svidnik, Snina and Medzilaborce Concessions. San Leon received back €153,054 in relation to costs incurred and an overriding royalty interest equal to 3.5% of all hydrocarbons produced in the concessions. Discovery Geo plan to drill two wells on these concessions targeting shallow oil for early production

·     Relinquished its Tarfaya oil shale licence, onshore Morocco, as the Timahdit oil shale licence is of significantly higher quality

·     Relinquished all or part of nine Polish concessions (totaling 680,000 net acres, or 14% of the previous Polish total):
- Poręba
- Jordanów
- Mszana Dolna
- Kalisz
- Laski
- Wetlina
- Bielsko - Biała (part, in progress)
- Węgrów
- Wieluń (part, in progress)

Oisin Fanning, San Leon Executive Chairman, commented:

"The Company continues to farm out assets and drill wells to progress towards production and cash flow.  Palomar are moving quickly with a programme for developing the Rawicz field and planning activity on other areas of the joint venture, and the three-well drilling campaign in Karpaty and the Permian Basin is part of our strategy to target early production. Planning is also currently underway for our next Gdansk West well at Lewino, initial results of the Conoco/3Legs and BNK horizontal wells appear positive and further results are expected soon. Our Timahdit oil shale project continues to show its long-term potential to generate up to 11,000 bopd for 30 years and the current work is designed to build the business case to attract capital investors.  With the Nour well, offshore Morocco, also currently being drilled, we are excited by the potential for abundant newsflow and look forward to updating the market in due course."

Qualified person

Joel Price, who has reviewed this update, has 20 years' experience in the oil & gas industry and is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. He holds a BA in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University, an MEng from Heriot-Watt University, and an MBA from Durham University. Joel is Chief Operating Officer for San Leon Energy and is based in San Leon's London office.

For further information contact:

San Leon Energy plc  Oisin Fanning, Executive Chairman	[phone]
finnCap Ltd  Corporate Finance Matt Goode Christopher Raggett Corporate Broking Elizabeth Johnson Joanna Weaving	[phone]
Fox-Davies Capital Limited Daniel Fox-Davies Oliver Stansfield Jonathan Evans	[phone]
Macquarie Capital (Europe) Limited Jon Fitzpatrick Nicholas Harland	[phone]
Westhouse Securities Ltd Nominated Adviser Richard Johnson Antonio Bossi	[phone]
Vigo Communications Financial Public Relations Patrick d'Ancona Chris McMahon	[phone]
Plunkett Public Relations Sharon Plunkett	[phone]

www.sanleonenergy.com 

 

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