REG - United Oil & Gas PLC - Termination of Agreement with Quattro

United Oil & GasAnnouncement

01/11/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 9166R  United Oil & Gas PLC  01 November 2023

United Oil & Gas PLC / Index: AIM / Epic: UOG / Sector: Oil & Gas

 

1 November 2023

United Oil & Gas plc

("United" or "the Company")

 

Termination of Agreement with Quattro for Sale of UK Central North Sea Licence

 

United Oil & Gas PLC (AIM: "UOG"), today announces the termination of the
Asset Purchase Agreement ("APA") with Quattro Energy Limited ("Quattro") under
which the parties had agreed to the conditional sale by United to Quattro of
the UK Central North Sea Licence P2519 containing the Maria discovery in Block
15/18 (the "Licence").

 

On 4 October 2023 United announced that the long stop date for the
satisfaction of the APA conditions had been further extended to 27 October
2023. Whilst the regulatory consent for the transfer of the licence had been
approved, Quattro had not satisfised the funding conditions under the APA by
the extended long stop date and the parties have not agreed to a further
extension.

 

Notwithstanding the prospectivity of this licence, against the backdrop of the
current regulatory and fiscal challenges impacting the UK North Sea
undermining investor confidence in the progression of potential developments
in this sector, Quattro have been unable to raise the funds to complete the
transaction.

 

Further, the current phase of the Licence expires on 30 November 2023 and a
firm commitment to drill a well in the next phase of the licence is required
to continue the Licence beyond this date. Whilst United recognise the
potential prospectivity of a development on this Licence, having exhausted all
other available avenues to progress this opportunity, United has made the
decision not to apply to move into the next phase of the Licence. It is
therefore expected that the Company's interest in this Licence will cease on
the 30  November 2023. As at 30 June 2023, the Group carried an intangible
balance of $1.0m representing the amount capitalised to that date on the Maria
discovery.

 

 

Brian Larkin, Chief Executive Officer commented:

"Over recent years, we have successfully monetised our interests in licences
in both the North Sea and in Italy, using the proceeds to fund our activities
in Jamaica, the North Sea and also corporate G&A. We had identified our
interest in the Maria licence as non-core to our future strategy and on that
basis undertook a farmout process which resulted in the agreement to sell to
Quattro on the terms announced in January this year. Since signing this
agreement with Quattro, we have sought to support their efforts to raise the
funds required to complete this transaction and had regular interaction with
the Quattro team and their advisors as they progressed their funding process.
It is therefore a disappointing outcome for both parties, that due to the
challenging regulatory and fiscal backdrop in the North Sea, Quattro were
unable to complete their funding process. Throughout the last 12 months, the
company has incurred only licence costs in relation to the Maria licence, the
cost of which is effectively covered by the $100k non-refundable deposit
received in September."

 

"Our focus remains on progressing the farmout of Jamaica and the upcoming
drilling activities in Egypt including the drilling of the ASD-S-1X
exploration well later this year."

 

 

 

END

 

 This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7
of Regulation 2014/596/EU which is part of domestic UK law pursuant to the
Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) regulations (SI 2019/310).

 Enquiries
 United Oil & Gas Plc (Company)
 Brian Larkin, CEO                                       brian.larkin@uogplc.com (mailto:brian.larkin@uogplc.com)
 Peter Dunne, CFO                                        Peter.dunne@uogplc.com (mailto:Peter.dunne@uogplc.com)

 Beaumont Cornish Limited (Nominated Adviser)
 Roland Cornish | Felicity Geidt  | Asia Szusciak        +44 (0) 20 7628 3396

 Tennyson Securities (Joint Broker)
 Peter Krens                                             +44 (0) 20 7186 9030

 Optiva Securities Limited (Joint Broker)
 Christian Dennis                                        +44 (0) 20 3137 1902

 Camarco (Financial PR)
 Andrew Turner | Emily Hall | Sam Morris                 +44 (0) 20 3757 4983

 

Notes to Editors

United Oil & Gas is a high growth oil and gas company with a portfolio of
low-risk, cash generative production, development, appraisal and exploration
assets across Egypt, UK and a high impact exploration licence in Jamaica.

The business is led by an experienced management team with a strong track
record of growing full cycle businesses, partnered with established industry
players and is well positioned to deliver future growth through portfolio
optimisation and targeted acquisitions.

United Oil & Gas is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock
Exchange. For further information on United Oil and Gas please
visit www.uogplc.com (http://www.uogplc.com)

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