REG - Orcadian Energy PLC - Pilot Field Extension of Licence P2244

Orcadian EnergyAnnouncement

24/11/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 6304I  Orcadian Energy PLC  24 November 2025

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DEEMED BY THE COMPANY TO
CONSTITUTE INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION
(EU) NO. 596/2014 AS IT FORMS PART OF UK DOMESTIC LAW PURSUANT TO THE EUROPEAN
UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018, AS AMENDED. UPON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS
ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE, THIS INFORMATION IS
CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.

24 November 2025

Orcadian Energy plc

("Orcadian" or the "Company")

Pilot Field Extension of Licence P2244

Orcadian Energy plc is delighted to report that the UK's North Sea oil and gas
regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority ("NSTA") has approved a
three-year extension to the Second Term of the Pilot Licence P2244.

The new licence expiry date is now 1 December 2028.

P2244 contains the Pilot field and Orcadian has an 18.75% carried interest in
the licence.  The operator of the licence is preparing a refreshed
sub-surface description of the Pilot field, informed by the high-quality 3D
seismic provided by TGS ASA, and supported by the Orcadian team as they
progress the project towards a Final Investment Decision. Securing this
licence extension to enable the development and submission of an updated field
development plan has obviously been essential and Orcadian looks forward to
supporting the operator to deliver a plan that maximises oil recovery and
minimises carbon dioxide emissions in the production process.

Steve Brown, Orcadian CEO, said:

"Pilot can be a new low-carbon hub on the Western Platform in the Central
North Sea with the potential to produce a total recoverable resource of well
over 100 mmbbl from Pilot and adjacent discoveries. Exploration success and
renewed licensing of near-infrastructure discoveries could raise the potential
recovery from this hub to nearly 500 mmbbl.

"This licence extension our operator the time and space to design a
low-emissions development scheme that can thrive in the post-EPL fiscal regime
that has been proposed and consulted on by Treasury, which everyone in the
industry is awaiting with bated breath and which is the fiscal regime that
matters for Orcadian's projects."

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

 

Contact:

 Orcadian Energy plc                              + 44 20 7920 3150
 Steve Brown, CEO

 Alan Hume, CFO
 Zeus (Nomad and Joint Broker)                    +44 20 3829 5000
 Darshan Patel / John Moran (Investment Banking)

 Simon Johnson (Corporate Broking)
 Albr (Joint Broker)                              +44 207 399 9425
 Colin Rowbury / Jon Belliss

Western platform oil and gas fields and FPSO facilities, Orcadian blocks in
orange

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 36 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 Geoscience
Energy Society of Great Britain. He is Exploration and Geoscience Manager at
Orcadian Energy.

About Orcadian Energy

Orcadian is a North Sea focused, low emissions, oil and gas exploration and
development company. 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 energy to the UK.

Viscous oil

As part of its viscous oil strategy Orcadian has an 18.75% carried interest in
the Pilot development project, Pilot was discovered by PetroFina in 1989 and
has been well appraised. The field has excellent quality reservoir and has
contingent resources of 79 MMbbl of a viscous oil ranging in gravity from 17º
API in the South of the reservoir to 12º API in the North. In planning the
Pilot development, Orcadian has selected polymer flooding and wind power to
transform the production of viscous oil into a cleaner and greener process.
Polymer significantly reduces fluid handling requirements and hence energy
consumption as well as boosting recovery. Ithaca Energy, operator of the
Captain field in the Inner Moray Firth, has enjoyed consistent success in
applying polymer flood to the highly analogous Captain field. Following the
recent farm-down of Pilot, the project is now under the stewardship of Ping
Petroleum UK PLC ("Ping") and is intended to be amongst the lowest carbon
emitting oil production facilities in the world.

Ping is progressing a low-emissions, phased, field development plan for Pilot
based upon a polymer flood of the reservoir, a Floating Production Storage and
Offloading vessel (FPSO) and provision of power from a floating wind turbine
or a local wind farm.

Orcadian has an 18.75% fully carried interest in Licence P2244 (block 21/27a)
and a 100% interest in Licence P2482 (blocks 28/2a and 28/3a). Ping is
operator of P2244 and the Pilot development project. P2482 covers the Elke and
Narwhal discoveries which contain 53 MMbbl of contingent resources.

The Fynn licence (P2634) which was awarded in the 33(rd) Round contains a very
substantial heavy oil discovery. About 88% of the resource on a best technical
case is estimated to lie within the area of the licence. Orcadian has a 50%
working interest in the Fynn licence which is operated by Serica Energy. The
Fynn licence covers blocks 14/15a, 14/20d and 15/11a.

Gas to Artificial Intelligence

Orcadian was awarded two gas licences in the 33(rd) Round. The Mid-North Sea
High licence, P2650, contains shallow gas leads. Orcadian applied in
partnership with Triangle Energy, an Australian listed energy company.
Orcadian is licence administrator and holds 50% of the licence. The Mid North
Sea High licence covers blocks 29/16, 29/17, 29/18, 29/19, 29/21, 29/22,
29/23, 29/27 and 29/28.

The Earlham and Orwell licence, P2680, 100% Orcadian, contains the Earlham
discovery, a low-calorie gas discovery with 114 bcf of methane resources on a
P50 basis, the Clover prospect which has P50 prospective resources of 153 bcf,
and the decommissioned Orwell field which has redevelopment potential,
alongside a number of smaller prospects.

Orcadian, with its proposed partners The Independent Power Corporation plc
("IPC") and The Marine Low Carbon Power Company Ltd ("MLCP"), intends to
develop Earlham to supply gas to a power station to be constructed by MLCP and
located adjacent to the field. The generated power is planned to be exported
to data centres located on the M25 corridor, where demand for clean,
dispatchable electricity has risen beyond the grid's current capacity. Carbon
dioxide produced from the reservoir and from the combustion of gas is intended
to be reinjected into the Earlham field to maintain reservoir pressure and
enhance gas recovery

Orcadian intends progressing these and other projects in partnership with IPC
through its 50% -owned, tax-advantaged, HALO subsidiary. Since 2013 HALO has
incurred around £50 million of pre-trading capital expenditures which we
expect will generate, on commencement of a ring-fence trade, tax allowances in
the region of £115 million when Ring Fence Expenditure Supplement is applied.
Orcadian continues to evaluate opportunities to acquire development and
producing opportunities for HALO.

 

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