EnQuest (LON:ENQ), the largest UK independent oil and gas producer in the UK North Sea, has agreed a deal with Fairfield Acer Ltd to farm in to UK Continental Shelf Block 9/28a - Area B, which contains the Crawford oil field and the 9/28a -18 Porter oil discovery. EnQuest already holds a 19% interest in the block following last November’s acquisition of Stratic Energy Corporation. With this agreement it will acquire a further 32% interest in return for carrying Fairfield for certain development costs, up to a maximum of £34.85 million.
Assuming the transaction receives government and partner approval, EnQuest’s combined working interest will increase to 51% and it will become operator. Based on a determination at the end of 2010, the Crawford field and Porter had gross 2P reserves of 26.8 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe). As a result of this deal, EnQuest's net 2P reserves will be increased by 8.6 MMboe. Fairfield will retain a 20% interest in the block while the remaining 29% interest is held by Valiant Petroleum (LON:VPP).
Amjad Bseisu, the chief executive of EnQuest, said: “EnQuest’s strategic acquisition of Stratic provided us with an entry point to the Crawford development, and provided the opportunity to add value through mobilising a technical team to evaluate the development. EnQuest’s position will be consolidated both by the increase in our equity to 51% and by our new role as operator. We are delighted to have reached this agreement with Fairfield, we appreciate their extensive experience and in particular their achievements in bringing the project to its current state. We look forward to working with Fairfield and Valiant on this project and to delivery of a field development plan in 2012.”
Chris Wright, the chief executive of Fairfield, said: “We are very pleased to have reached this farm-out agreement with EnQuest, which marks another key moment in Fairfield’s strategy of bringing in partners, whilst remaining well placed to benefit from the significant upside of the Crawford and Porter developments. We look forward to working closely with both EnQuest and Valiant in the months ahead, and to building upon the excellent work carried out to date by our technical team in developing the acreage thus far.”
The Crawford field lies in the Northern North Sea approximately…
a very important and profitable development
