RCS - Orcadian Energy PLC - 33rd Offshore Licensing Round

Orcadian EnergyAnnouncement

19/01/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 1926N  Orcadian Energy PLC  19 January 2023

 

REACH

 

 

19 January 2023

Orcadian Energy plc

("Orcadian Energy", "Orcadian" or the "Company")

 

33(rd) Offshore Licensing Round

 

Orcadian Energy (AIM: ORCA), the low-emissions North Sea oil and gas
development company,  is pleased to provide an update of its applications in
the 33(rd) Offshore Licensing Round ("the 33(rd) Round") which closed last
week.  The North Sea Transition Authority ("NSTA") announced on 17(th)
January 2023, that the 33(rd) Round had garnered 115 bids across 258 blocks or
part-blocks, with bids having been received from 76 different companies.

 

As advised previously, Orcadian has participated in the 33(rd) Round. The
Company made three licence applications, two in partnership with other
companies and one on its own. It is anticipated that Orcadian will hear as
whether its licence applications have been successful before the end of third
quarter 2023 and a further announcement will be made at that time.

 

One of the applications builds upon Orcadian's viscous oil experience whilst
the other two applications are focused on gas opportunities, including a
potential gas-to-wire project on an appraised discovery, with integrated
carbon capture, which could deliver baseload electricity with minimal
emissions. Net to Orcadian the P50 sales gas resource applied for, across the
two gas focused applications, could amount to 114 bcf in a discovery, 153 bcf
in a near drill-ready prospect and 377 bcf in leads and less mature prospects.
These are management estimates of resources, are based upon seismic and well
log data, are as presented to the NSTA in the Licence Applications, and are
provided here for guidance purposes only.

 

 

Steve Brown, Orcadian's CEO, commented:

 

"Licensing rounds are, by their nature, competitive processes, but we have
focused on opportunities where we believe we have a competitive advantage.
We look forward to the NSTA's evaluations of our and our competitors'
submissions."

 

For further information on the Company please visit the Company's website:
https://orcadian.energy (https://orcadian.energy)

 

 

Qualified Person's Statement

Pursuant to the requirements of the AIM Rules and in particular, the AIM Note
for Mining and Oil and Gas Companies, Maurice Bamford has reviewed and
approved the technical information and resource reporting contained in this
announcement. Maurice has more than 33 years' experience in the oil & gas
industry and 3 years in academia. He holds a BSc in Geology from Queens
University Belfast and a PhD in Geology from the National University of
Ireland. Maurice is a Fellow of the Geological Society, London, and a member
of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain. He is Exploration and
Geoscience Manager at 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
 Katy Mitchell / Andrew de Andrade (Nomad)

 Harry Ansell / Fraser Marshall (Corporate Broking)

 Tavistock (PR)                                       + 44 20 7920 3150
 Nick Elwes / Simon Hudson                            orcadian@tavistock.co.uk (mailto:orcadian@tavistock.co.uk)
 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 a tenth of the 2021
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.

 

Glossary

 

 1P        Proven reserves
 2P        Proven plus probable reserves
 3P        Proven, probable and possible reserves
 bbls/day  Barrels per day
 bcf       Billion cubic feet of gas at standard conditions
 2C        Mid case estimate of contingent resources
 CPR       Competent Person's Report
 FPSO      Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel
 MMbbl     Million barrels
 P10       10% probability of being exceeded, determined using probabilistic methods
 P50       50% probability of being exceeded, determined using probabilistic methods
 P90       90% probability of being exceeded, determined using probabilistic methods
 PRMS      Petroleum Resources Management System
 SPE       Society of Petroleum Engineers
 UKCS      United Kingdom Continental Shelf

 

 

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