REG-Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) Plc: EOG - Update on Wressle, North Lincolnshire

Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings)Announcement

30/10/2018 10:05

Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc / Index: AIM / Epic: EOG / Sector: Oil & Gas

30 October 2018

Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc (‘Europa’ or ‘the Company’)

Update on Wressle, North Lincolnshire

Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc, the UK and Ireland focused oil and gas
exploration, development and production company, notes today’s update from
Egdon Resources (‘Egdon’) in its Preliminary Results with regards to its
commitment to gaining planning consent for the Wressle oil field development
on PEDL 180 in the East Midlands. Europa has a 30% working interest in Wressle
alongside Egdon (operator, 30%), Union Jack Oil (27.5%), and Humber Oil & Gas
Limited (12.5%) (‘the Joint Venture partners’).  

Europa's CEO, Hugh Mackay, said: “It is clear that Egdon is committed to
securing the planning consent at Wressle.  The operator has carefully set out
to address the issues identified in its revised planning application which it
expects to be heard by the committee before year-end. That Egdon has increased
its working interest in the asset demonstrates its confidence in being able to
develop Wressle to commercial production, and we share its optimism that this
is an achievable target.”

Information from Egdon`s RNS published today regarding the Wressle oil field
is as follows:

Excerpt from Egdon’s Chairman’s Statement

We remain committed to gaining planning consent to develop the Wressle oil
discovery and have acquired a further 5% interest in this asset during the
period emphasising our confidence in the asset. We await the council's
determination of our revised planning application, submitted in July 2018
following the January 2018 rejection of our earlier planning appeals, and
remain ready to take this through another appeal process if required.

Excerpt from Egdon’s Operating Review

At the Wressle project, in early July 2018 we announced the submission of a
new planning application for the development of the oil discovery to North
Lincolnshire Council ("NLC"). The Company strongly believes that the new
application takes full account of the key findings of the Planning Inspector's
decision to dismiss the Company's appeals as set out in his decision letter of
4 January 2018, which identified three key issues in his decision: the absence
of a ground conditions survey report; the absence of sufficient evidence on
the adequacy of the Geosynthetic Clay Liner (GCL) covering; and uncertainty
with regards to the near surface geology, specifically the presence of capping
layers to the underlying aquifers.

The first issue has been addressed by the production of an independent Ground
Investigation Report using information gained from geotechnical site
investigation boreholes drilled in Q1 2018.

The second issue has been addressed through the proposed reconfiguration of
the wellsite to install a new high-density polyethylene (HDPE) impermeable
membrane above the existing GCL, with additional associated protection layers
across the entire wellsite. The specification of the HDPE impermeable
membrane, associated protection layers and thickness and suitability of the
stone covering layer, has been tested and validated in a laboratory, and
agreed between the membrane manufacturer and Egdon's consulting civil and
structural engineers.

The third issue has been addressed through an updated independent
Hydrogeological and Flood Risk Assessment (HRA), which includes the results of
samples tested from two deeper cored boreholes drilled in Q1 2018, which
conclusively demonstrates the presence of laterally continuous capping layers
to the underlying aquifers.

The proposed development incorporates high levels of embedded mitigation, the
effectiveness of which will be verified by continuous monitoring of the nearby
water and groundwater.

Egdon also plans to set up a community liaison group and a community fund to
ensure the local community are kept fully informed and share in the benefits
of the Wressle development.

Whilst we have increased our efforts to convince the members of the NLC
Planning Committee of the clear merits of our new application, our recent
experiences mean we remain fully prepared to take this new application through
another appeal process. As the most recent example of their apparent
intransigence, on 1 August 2018 the NLC Planning Committee refused our
application to extend the existing consent for the Wressle site despite a
recommendation for approval from their own professional planning officers. The
reasons cited were conflicts with paragraph 205 of the National Planning
Policy Framework and policy M21 of the North Lincolnshire Local Plan even
though in his decision of January 2018 the Inspector found in Egdon's favour
on our appeal against the same reasons. We have now submitted an appeal
against this decision and await the timeline for the process. We anticipate
the current application being heard by committee before the end of 2018.

Notwithstanding the issues experienced to date, and demonstrating our
commitment to and confidence in the Wressle field development, in June 2018 we
announced the acquisition of an additional 5% interest in PEDL180 and PEDL182
from Celtique Energie Petroleum Limited for a deferred cash consideration of
£0.417m payable on commencement of production.

Outlook

Our main operational activity during the coming period will be focused on:
* Securing planning consent and developing the Wressle discovery for
commercial production
* * ENDS * *

For further information please visit www.europaoil.com or contact:

 Hugh Mackay      Europa                  + 44 (0) 20 7224 3770  
 Phil Greenhalgh  Europa                  + 44 (0) 20 7224 3770  
 Matt Goode       finnCap Ltd             + 44 (0) 20 7220 0500  
 Simon Hicks      finnCap Ltd             + 44 (0) 20 7220 0500  
 Frank Buhagiar   St Brides Partners Ltd  + 44 (0) 20 7236 1177  
 Susie Geliher    St Brides Partners Ltd  + 44 (0) 20 7236 1177  

Notes

Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc has a diversified portfolio of multi-stage
hydrocarbon assets that includes production, exploration and development
interests, in countries that are politically stable, have transparent
licensing processes, and offer attractive terms. In 2018 Europa produced 94
boepd. Its highly prospective exploration projects include the Wressle
development in the UK (targeting production start-up in 2019 at 500 bopd
gross) and six licences offshore Ireland with the potential to host gross mean
un-risked prospective resources of 6.2 billion barrels oil equivalent and 2.5
tcf undiscovered GIIP across all six licences.



Copyright (c) 2018 PR Newswire Association,LLC. All Rights Reserved