Europa Oil & Gas receives two-year extension for PEDL 143 licence in UK’s Weald basin

The Oil & Gas Authority has granted a two-year extension to Europa Oil & Gas for the PEDL 143 licence in the UK’s onshore Weald basin, Surrey.

The extension until 1 October 2018 will enable Europa to drill the conventional Holmwood prospect, which has estimated gross mean unrisked prospective resources of 5.6 million barrels of oil in portlandian and corallian sandstones.

To date, 30 million barrels have been produced from 14 oil and gas fields on the Weald basin.

The Holmwood prospect is located 5km to the south of the BP-discovered Brockham oil field and is also 12km to the west of the Horse Hill-1 well in PEDL137.

UK Oil & Gas Investments has reported production at a combined average stable rate of more than 1,688 barrels of oil per day (bopd) from upper and lower kimmeridge limestone reservoirs and an upper portland sandstone reservoir in PEDL137.

Europa has a planning permission in place for a deviated exploration well to be drilled at Holmwood.

The prospect will target oil in upper and lower kimmeridge limestones in addition to corallian and portlandian sandstones.

Europa will operate PEDL143 with a 32.5% interest. Other partners are UKOG (30%), Egdon Resources (18.4%), Warwick Energy (10%), UJO (7.5%) and Altwood Petroleum (1.6%).

Europa Oil & Gas CEO Hugh Mackay said: "The licence extension was necessary to drill the 5.6 million barrels of oil (mmbo) Holmwood prospect in late 2016 / H1 2017.

"We are looking forward to drilling this conventional prospect that we rate as having a one in three chance of success, as we focus on further growing our UK onshore production, which is on track to more than double in excess of 250bopd in H2 2016 when the Wressle discovery comes on stream."