REG - Independent Oil &Gas - Result of AGM and Skipper Appraisal Well Update <Origin Href="QuoteRef">IOG.L</Origin>

IogAnnouncement

30/06/2016 07:25

RNS Number : 7128C
Independent Oil & Gas PLC
30 June 2016
30 June 2016
Independent Oil and Gas plc
Result of AGM and Skipper Appraisal Well Update
Independent Oil and Gas plc ("IOG" or the "Company"), the development and production focused Oil and Gas Company, is pleased to announce that all resolutions were duly passed at the Company's Annual General Meeting held yesterday in London.
The Company is also pleased to announce that it expects to take Transocean's Sedco 704 semi-submersible drilling rig on contract and commence the drilling of the appraisal well on the Skipper oil discovery in the second half of July 2016. Skipper lies in Block 9/21a in licence P1609 in the Northern North Sea and IOG is the 100% owner and operator of the licence. The well is expected to take approximately 22 days to drill.
The vertical well will be drilled to 5,600ft with the primary objective of retrieving good quality reservoir condition oil samples in order to optimise the Skipper field development plan. The well will also drill two mapped reservoir structures beneath the Skipper oil field in the Lower Dornoch and Maureen formations. The directors of the Company believe an approved field development plan on Skipper would convert the Board's estimated 34.1MMBbls of contingent resources, based on a 25% recovery factor, into 2P reserves.
As previously announced, part of the Advance Payment of $1,728,000 to the rig owner Transocean has been satisfied by the issue of 2.7 million ordinary shares at 18.375p. The balance of the advance payment is now due to be paid by the 15th July 2016, taking account of the closing share price on that day.
Mark Routh CEO of IOG commented: 
"We are now in the final stages of preparation for this well which we believe will be transformational for IOG and should confirm Skipper as a key pillar in our target to achieve more than 100 MMBoe combined 2P reserves and 2C resources net to IOG from the existing portfolio once the previously announced Vulcan satellites acquisition is completed. We are very excited to be drilling in the North Sea at this time and look forward to progressing straight to the Skipper Field Development planning thereafter." 
-ENDS-
Enquiries:
Independent Oil and Gas plc
Mark Routh (CEO & Interim Executive Chairman)
Peter Young (CFO)
+44 (0) 20 3206 1565
finnCap Ltd
Matt Goode/Christopher Raggett
(Corporate Finance)
+44 (0) 20 7220 0500
Camarco
Billy Clegg / Georgia Mann
+44 (0) 20 3757 4980


Notes
About Independent Oil and Gas:
IOG is an oil and gas company with established assets in the UK North Sea. The company's strategy is to deliver near term development and production assets in North West Europe, through its extensive technical and commercial expertise, whilst maintaining some exposure to exploration upside. The company is looking to grow both organically and through acquisition. Following the Blythe acquisition, the Company's combined estimate of 2P reserves in Blythe and 2C resources in Skipper net to IOG will be 40.2 MMBoe.
Upon completion of the Blythe and Cronx acquisitions IOG will have five licences in the North Sea. All of these licences will now be owned 100% by IOG and subject to OGA approval will be operated by IOG. IOG has a 100% working interest in two other licences, one awarded in the 27th licensing round and another in the recent 28th licensing round. One is to the east of Blythe containing the Truman prospect and Harvey discovery (IOG estimate 16 BCF or 3.1 MMBoe) and the other is between the Blythe and Cronx licences which contains the Elgood and Hambleton discoveries and the Tetley and Rebellion prospects. Both these 100%-owned licences have potential resources that could be tied back to nearby infrastructure or to the Blythe development.
Further information can be found on www.independentoilandgas.com
About Blythe:
The Blythe gas discovery in the Rotliegendes Leman formation straddles Blocks 48/22b and 48/23a in the Southern North Sea in licence P1736. The Blythe Leman needs no further appraisal and has independently verified 2P reserves of 34.3 BCF (6.1MMBoe). (Source: ERC Equipoise Competent Person's Report ("CPR") dated September 2013.)
Gas tested to surface from three separate intervals in the Carboniferous beneath the Blythe Leman gas discovery from one of the Blythe discovery wells, 48/23-3 drilled by Arco in 1987. The maximum rate achieved was 0.9 MMcfd from an unstimulated vertical test. (Source: End of well report 48/23-3 - November 1987.) This was deemed uncommercial at the time, before the advent of horizontal multi-fracture stimulated wells. Further technical work including seismic reprocessing and remapping needs to be completed to evaluate this potential resource to refine the gas-in-place estimates which are between 70 BCF and 310 BCF. (Source: Tullow Oil 48/23a Relinquishment Report - May 2009.)
Oil has flowed to surface from the naturally fractured Zechstein Carbonates in the Hauptdolomit formation above the Blythe Leman gas discovery from two wells. Well 48/22-1 drilled by Burmah in 1966 flowed 39 API oil at rates up to 2,000 barrels per day (Source: Composite well log 48/22-1 - October 1966) and well 48/23-3 drilled by Arco in 1987 at flowed 38 API oil at a maximum rate of 1,128 barrels of oil a day. (Source: End of well report 48/23-3 - November 1987.) The extent of the structure and potential oil resources in the Hauptdolomit remains unknown. Previous estimates considered that the mapped closure was probably small. Oil-in-place has been estimated between 2 MMBbls and 4 MMBbls. (Source: Tullow Oil 48/23a Relinquishment Report - May 2009.) Further evaluation and re-mapping is now warranted now that a development will proceed on the main Blythe gas discovery.
About Skipper:
The Skipper oil discovery is in Block 9/21a in the Northern North Sea in licence P1609. IOG owns 100% of the Skipper licence P1609. Skipper needs further appraisal by drilling a well to retrieve an oil sample in order to design the optimum field development plan. Skipper has independently verified gross 2C resources of 26.2MMBbls. IOG management estimates that the recoverable oil from Skipper is 34.1 MMBbls based on a recovery factor of 25%, compared to the historic CPR estimate of 19%. Successful flow tests from nearby heavy oil fields substantiate the company's estimate of a 25% recovery factor. The appraisal well will also target two exploration prospects directly beneath the Skipper oil discovery which may contain oil in place of 46MMBbls. (Source: AGR Tracs CPR dated September 2013.)
About Cronx:
IOG has agreed to acquire 100% of Cronx (Block 48/22a, licence P1737) which is subject to completion. The Cronx gas discovery is 14km north-west of the Blythe field. Cronx was discovered in 2007 by well 48/22b-6 drilled by Perenco UK Ltd.
IOG commissioned an independent CPR by ERC Equipoise on Cronx in July 2012 which shows a base case expected gas recovery of 17.6 BCF or 3.4MMBOE 2C resource. IOG anticipates drilling a well in 2016, subject to rig availability, the necessary permits and funding. IOG expects the well to confirm the recoverable resources, which IOG believes has the potential to be larger than the 17.6 BCF base case in the CPR. IOG is currently evaluating options for the development and export of the Cronx gas.
About Elgood and Hambleton:
The Elgood discovery (IOG 100%) (Block 48/22c, licence P2260) was drilled by Enterprise Oil in 1991 and tested gas to surface at 17.6 MMcfd but was not progressed by Enterprise due to size and gas prices at that time. IOG's estimate of the recoverable reserves in Elgood is 2.1 MMBoe.
The Hambleton discovery, to the south of the same licence, was drilled by Century Exploration in 2005 but also was not progressed to development. IOG estimates that Hambleton has recoverable resources of 6 BCF (1 MMBoe). IOG believes that the reprocessing of existing 3D seismic data could increase recoverable resources up to 26BCF.
There are prospective resources on licence P2260 of 5.3 MMBoe in the Tetley and Rebellion prospects. Reprocessing of existing 3D seismic across 48/22a and 48/22c is required to determine whether Elgood connects to Cronx which would boost recoverable reserves significantly. The new seismic interpretation will also determine the likely size of Hambleton. IOG is now working on the potential development plans and will commission a CPR to confirm the resources over this area.
Competent Person's Statement:
In accordance with the AIM Note for Mining and Oil and Gas Companies, IOG discloses that Mark Routh, IOG's CEO and Interim Executive Chairman is the qualified person that has reviewed the technical information contained in this announcement. Mark Routh has an MSc in Petroleum Engineering and has been a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers since 1985. He has over 35 years' operating experience in the upstream oil and gas industry. Mark Routh consents to the inclusion of the information in the form and context in which it appears.

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