3 August 2022
Orcadian Energy plc
(“Orcadian Energy”, “Orcadian” or the “Company”)
Farm-out of Carra Prospect
Orcadian Energy (AIM:ORCA), the low-emissions North Sea oil and gas development company, is pleased to announce that, further to the announcement of 11 October 2021, the Company has now executed a formal agreement with Carrick Resources Limited (“Carrick”) in respect of a sub-area of Licence P2320 which covers the Carra prospect (“Carra”) (the “SPA”).
Under the terms of the SPA, the consideration for the transfer of the Carra interest is to be satisfied by the fulfilment of certain work milestones (there is no cash consideration). Carrick will review existing data, acquire a licence to, and reinterpret, the seismic data currently being reprocessed by TGS relating to the Carra prospect, and remap the prospect. In return, on completion of the updated mapping, Orcadian will, subject to North Sea Transition Authority approval, assign a 50% interest in the sub-area of licence P2320, which contains the bulk of the Carra prospect, to Carrick. Carrick may withdraw from the agreement prior to completion of the remapping of the prospect. This work programme is anticipated to take four months.
Carrick has agreed that after the transfer, it will then work up the Carra prospect to drill-ready status and manage a further farm-out process on the prospect.
By entering into this agreement with Carrick, Orcadian is building upon the long experience of the Carrick team in this area and is maximising the potential of this undrilled prospect.
About Carra
The Carra prospect lies to the East of the Crinan and Dandy discoveries and to the South of Fyne. The Carra prospect is contained in Tay and Cromarty sandstones which lie on trend with Guillemot West, and is a stratigraphic trap associated with a clear amplitude anomaly defined by 3D seismic. The Carra prospect is undrilled and unexplored but early, internal estimates from Carrick indicate there is the potential for it to contain P50 recoverable prospective resources of 30 MMbbls of medium gravity oil.
The sub-area of P2320 (approximately 3% of the area of the licence) which is subject to this agreement can be viewed at this link: https://bit.ly/carra-subarea.
Carra is a prospect on which Orcadian has undertaken no exploration activities, there is no turnover or profits attributable to the Carra sub-area. The Company currently ascribes a nominal value to the Carra sub-area of licence P2320.
Steve Brown, Orcadian’s CEO, said:
“We are delighted to have signed the SPA with Carrick. This SPA enables us to further de-risk and maximise value from our assets in a very cost-effective way while developing a drill ready prospect on Carra. Progressing Pilot and the prospects close to it remains our core focus whilst we continue to extract the maximum value on all our assets. We look forward to working with the Carrick team progressing Carra.”
For further information on the Company please visit the Company’s website: https://orcadian.energy
Contact:
| Orcadian Energy plc | + 44 20 7920 3150 |
|
Steve Brown, CEO Alan Hume, CFO |
|
| WH Ireland (Nomad and Joint Broker) | +44 20 7220 1666 |
|
Harry Ansell / Fraser Marshall (Corporate Broking) Katy Mitchell / Andrew de Andrade (Nomad) |
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| Shore Capital (Joint Broker) | +44 20 7408 4090 |
|
Toby Gibbs / Liam Zabludowicz (Advisory) |
| Tavistock (PR) | + 44 20 7920 3150 |
|
Nick Elwes Simon Hudson |
[email protected] |
| Charlesbye (PR) | + 44 7403 050525 |
|
Lee Cain / Lucia Hodgson |
About Orcadian Energy
Orcadian is a North Sea focused, low emissions, oil and gas development company. In planning its Pilot development, Orcadian has selected wind power to transform oil production into a cleaner and greener process. The Pilot project is moving towards approval and will be amongst the lowest carbon emitting oil production facilities in the world, despite being a viscous crude. Orcadian may be a small operator, but it is also nimble, and the Directors believe it has grasped opportunities that have eluded some of the much bigger companies. As we strike a balance between Net Zero and a sustainable energy supply, Orcadian intends to play its part to minimise the cost of Net Zero and to deliver reliable organic energy.
Orcadian Energy (CNS) Ltd (“CNS”), Orcadian’s operating subsidiary, was founded in 2014 and is the sole licensee of P2244, which contains 78.8 MMbbl of 2P Reserves in the Pilot discovery, and of P2320 and P2482, which contain a further 77.8 MMbbl of 2C Contingent Resources in the Elke, Narwhal and Blakeney discoveries (as audited by Sproule, see the CPR in the Company’s Admission Document for more details). Within these licences there are also 191 MMbbl of unrisked Prospective Resources. These licences are in blocks 21/27, 21/28, 28/2 and 28/3, and lie 150 kms due East of Aberdeen. The Company also has a 50% working interest in P2516, which contains the Fynn discoveries. P2516 is administered by the Parkmead Group and covers blocks 14/20g and 15/16g, which lie midway between the Piper and Claymore fields, 180 kms due East of Wick.
Pilot, which is the largest oilfield in Orcadian’s portfolio, was discovered by Fina in 1989 and has been well appraised. In total five wells and two sidetracks were drilled on Pilot, including a relatively short horizontal well which produced over 1,800 bbls/day on test. Orcadian’s proposed low emissions, field development plan for Pilot is based upon a Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO), with over thirty wells to be drilled by a Jack-up rig through a pair of well head platforms and provision of power from a floating wind turbine.
Emissions per barrel produced are expected to be about an eighth of the 2020 North Sea average, and less than half of the lowest emitting oil facility currently operating on the UKCS. On a global basis this places the Pilot field emissions at the low end of the lowest 5% of global oil production.
