Europa to relinquish stake in Romanian concession

Europa Oil & Gas is to relinquish its 28.75% working interest in the EIII-1 Brodina concession in northern Romania.

The firm reached the decision to withdraw from the concession following a technical and commercial evaluation of the project’s prospectivity, anticipated costs, and its associated timetable and geologic risk.

Europa has incurred exploration costs of £2.7m on the Voitinel and Horodnic wells at Brodina, which will be written off. The company will now focus on its other properties, including the Berenx gas appraisal project in France.

Europa CEO Hugh Mackay said that the company will continue to evaluate the risk/reward trade-off on its licences and is committed to taking action, whether this involves progressing an individual project along the development curve or, in the case of Brodina, choosing to exit.

"It is a mark of the quality of our asset base that Brodina is no longer a priority for Europa," said Mackay. "The potential company maker that is Berenx, in onshore France, as well as our highly exciting exploration licences in the UK and Ireland, remain our focus."

Europa has resumed production at the West Firsby 7 well in the East Midlands, UK. The well was shut because of a suspected hole in a section of the tubing, and production was resumed following a workover programme that confirmed and rectified the problem.