17 January 2024
Longboat Energy plc
("Longboat Energy" or "Longboat")
APA Licence Award & Statfjord Satellites Acquisition Update
Longboat Energy, an emerging full-cycle E&P company active in Norway and Malaysia, is pleased to announce the award of a new licence under the Norwegian 2023 APA Licensing Round (Awards in Predefined Areas) to its Norwegian joint venture, Longboat JAPEX Norge AS ("Longboat JAPEX" or the "Company") and to provide an update on the completion of the acquisition of the Statfjord Satellites.
Licence 1212 S Block 35/7, 10 - Magnolia
Longboat JAPEX is pleased to announce it has been awarded a 20% interest in Licence PL 1212 S which contains the Magnolia prospect, together with partners Equinor Energy AS (operator) 40% and DNO Norge AS (40%).
Magnolia lies in the prolific Northern North Sea, an area in which Longboat JAPEX has built a significant presence since 2021 pursuing an emerging Paleogene injectite play. The Magnolia area includes the Company's significant Kveikje discovery (Company 10%), the Kjøttkake/Lotus exploration well (Company 15%) which is expected to spud in Q3 2024, and the Jasmine and Sjøkreps prospects (Company 25%) located in PL1049. The Lotus and Jasmine/Sjøkreps prospects were recently subject to a successful farm-down by Longboat JAPEX to Concedo.
The Magnolia prospect comprises Eocene injectite sandstones, analogous to the Kveikje reservoir, characterised by good quality reservoir properties, with seismic amplitude support. The Magnolia award allows Longboat JAPEX to continue to build its presence in this prolific exploration and development area and exploit its deep knowledge of injectite reservoirs gained through the Kveikje discovery.
The Company estimates Magnolia to contain gross mean prospective resources of 39 mmboe* with further potential upside estimated at 57 mmboe*. The chance of success associated with the Magnolia prospect is 34%* with the key risk being hydrocarbon retention and phase.
If successful, Magnolia and Kjøttkake/Lotus are likely to form part of an area cluster development together with several other recent discoveries in the area. The Magnolia licence award further increases the attractiveness of Longboat JAPEX's existing position in the Northern North Sea.
The work programme consists of the acquisition and/or reprocessing of modern 3D seismic and G&G studies within the initial one-year period.
Statfjord satellites acquisition update
The fifth and final of the new infill wells in Statfjord Øst redevelopment has now been successfully drilled and the Statfjord Øst and Sygna fields are expected to start ramping up production during Q1 2024. The transaction is progressing towards completion, which is expected at the end of this month.
Helge Hammer, Chief Executive of Longboat, commented:
"We are pleased to have been awarded this additional licence, which will add to our core area around Kveikje, where Longboat has already discovered significant volumes and will be drilling the carried exploration well on Kjøttkake/Lotus later this year. We look forward to working with our partners to build on the success and add further value in this emerging development area."
The information contained within this announcement is considered to be inside information prior to its release.
Ends
Cavendish Capital Markets Limited (Joint Broker) Tel: +44 20 7397 8900 Neil McDonald Pete Lynch Leif Powis
* Source : Resource figures and chance of success estimates on Magnolia are from Longboat's APA2023 application.
Company Background
Longboat Energy was established at the end of 2019 to create a full-cycle E&P company through value accretive M&A and near-field exploration. Longboat's initial focus has been in Norway where the Company has drilled nine exploration wells resulting in six hydrocarbon discoveries, representing a technical success rate of 66%.
In July 2023, Longboat completed a transaction with Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd ("JAPEX") to form a new joint venture company in Norway named Longboat JAPEX Norge AS. Under these arrangements, JAPEX will make a cash investment of US$20 million, of which US$16 million was paid on completion, for a 49.9% shareholding in of Longboat JAPEX Norge AS and a further US$4 million will be paid on completion of the Statfjord Satellites acquisition and JAPEX also provides the Joint Venture with a US$100 million Acquisition Financing Facility to finance acquisitions and associated development costs. Longboat retains 50.1% ownership in Longboat JAPEX Norge AS.
Also in July 2023, Longboat JAPEX Norge AS announced its first production acquisition in Norway of interests in the Statfjord satellite fields, Statfjord Øst and Sygna.
Longboat entered Malaysia in February 2023 through the award of a Production Sharing Contract for Block 2A, offshore Sarawak. Block 2A covers approx. 12,000km2 and is located in water depths of between 100-1,400 metres where a number of large prospects across multiple plays have been identified, with significant volume potential representing multiple trillions of cubic feet of gas.
Longboat's activities remain focused on creating a portfolio with a clear low-cost route to monetisation and low-carbon drilling and development opportunities, well aligned to Longboat's ESG targets which includes a corporate 'Net Zero' on a Scope 1 and 2 basis by 2050. | |
Standard
Estimates of reserves and resources have been prepared in accordance with the June 2018 Petroleum Resources Management System ("PRMS") as the standard for classification and reporting with an effective date of 31 December 2022.
Review by Qualified Person
The technical information in this release has been reviewed by Hilde Salthe (Managing Director Longboat Energy Norge AS), who is a qualified person for the purposes of the AIM Guidance Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies. Ms Salthe is a petroleum geologist with more than 20 years' experience in the oil and gas industry. Ms Salthe has a Master's Degree from Faculty of Applied Earth Sciences at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim.
Glossary
| "mmboe" | Million barrels of oil equivalent |
Magnolia License Award - Area Map
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