Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) Plc EOG - Update on Wressle, North Lincolnshire

 
TIDMEOG 
 
Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc / Index: AIM / Epic: EOG / Sector: Oil & Gas 
 
30 October 2018 
 
          Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc ('Europa' or 'the Company') 
 
                     Update on Wressle, North Lincolnshire 
 
Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc, the UK and Ireland focused oil and gas 
exploration, development and production company, notes today's update from 
Egdon Resources ('Egdon') in its Preliminary Results with regards to its 
commitment to gaining planning consent for the Wressle oil field development on 
PEDL 180 in the East Midlands. Europa has a 30% working interest in Wressle 
alongside Egdon (operator, 30%), Union Jack Oil (27.5%), and Humber Oil & Gas 
Limited (12.5%) ('the Joint Venture partners'). 
 
Europa's CEO, Hugh Mackay, said: "It is clear that Egdon is committed to 
securing the planning consent at Wressle.  The operator has carefully set out 
to address the issues identified in its revised planning application which it 
expects to be heard by the committee before year-end. That Egdon has increased 
its working interest in the asset demonstrates its confidence in being able to 
develop Wressle to commercial production, and we share its optimism that this 
is an achievable target." 
 
Information from Egdon`s RNS published today regarding the Wressle oil field is 
as follows: 
 
Excerpt from Egdon's Chairman's Statement 
 
We remain committed to gaining planning consent to develop the Wressle oil 
discovery and have acquired a further 5% interest in this asset during the 
period emphasising our confidence in the asset. We await the council's 
determination of our revised planning application, submitted in July 2018 
following the January 2018 rejection of our earlier planning appeals, and 
remain ready to take this through another appeal process if required. 
 
Excerpt from Egdon's Operating Review 
 
At the Wressle project, in early July 2018 we announced the submission of a new 
planning application for the development of the oil discovery to North 
Lincolnshire Council ("NLC"). The Company strongly believes that the new 
application takes full account of the key findings of the Planning Inspector's 
decision to dismiss the Company's appeals as set out in his decision letter of 
4 January 2018, which identified three key issues in his decision: the absence 
of a ground conditions survey report; the absence of sufficient evidence on the 
adequacy of the Geosynthetic Clay Liner (GCL) covering; and uncertainty with 
regards to the near surface geology, specifically the presence of capping 
layers to the underlying aquifers. 
 
The first issue has been addressed by the production of an independent Ground 
Investigation Report using information gained from geotechnical site 
investigation boreholes drilled in Q1 2018. 
 
The second issue has been addressed through the proposed reconfiguration of the 
wellsite to install a new high-density polyethylene (HDPE) impermeable membrane 
above the existing GCL, with additional associated protection layers across the 
entire wellsite. The specification of the HDPE impermeable membrane, associated 
protection layers and thickness and suitability of the stone covering layer, 
has been tested and validated in a laboratory, and agreed between the membrane 
manufacturer and Egdon's consulting civil and structural engineers. 
 
The third issue has been addressed through an updated independent 
Hydrogeological and Flood Risk Assessment (HRA), which includes the results of 
samples tested from two deeper cored boreholes drilled in Q1 2018, which 
conclusively demonstrates the presence of laterally continuous capping layers 
to the underlying aquifers. 
 
The proposed development incorporates high levels of embedded mitigation, the 
effectiveness of which will be verified by continuous monitoring of the nearby 
water and groundwater. 
 
Egdon also plans to set up a community liaison group and a community fund to 
ensure the local community are kept fully informed and share in the benefits of 
the Wressle development. 
 
Whilst we have increased our efforts to convince the members of the NLC 
Planning Committee of the clear merits of our new application, our recent 
experiences mean we remain fully prepared to take this new application through 
another appeal process. As the most recent example of their apparent 
intransigence, on 1 August 2018 the NLC Planning Committee refused our 
application to extend the existing consent for the Wressle site despite a 
recommendation for approval from their own professional planning officers. The 
reasons cited were conflicts with paragraph 205 of the National Planning Policy 
Framework and policy M21 of the North Lincolnshire Local Plan even though in 
his decision of January 2018 the Inspector found in Egdon's favour on our 
appeal against the same reasons. We have now submitted an appeal against this 
decision and await the timeline for the process. We anticipate the current 
application being heard by committee before the end of 2018. 
 
Notwithstanding the issues experienced to date, and demonstrating our 
commitment to and confidence in the Wressle field development, in June 2018 we 
announced the acquisition of an additional 5% interest in PEDL180 and PEDL182 
from Celtique Energie Petroleum Limited for a deferred cash consideration of GBP 
0.417m payable on commencement of production. 
 
Outlook 
 
Our main operational activity during the coming period will be focused on: 
 
  * Securing planning consent and developing the Wressle discovery for 
    commercial production 
 
                                 * * ENDS * * 
 
For further information please visit www.europaoil.com or contact: 
 
Hugh Mackay       Europa                        + 44 (0) 20 7224 
                                                3770 
 
Phil Greenhalgh   Europa                        + 44 (0) 20 7224 
                                                3770 
 
Matt Goode        finnCap Ltd                   + 44 (0) 20 7220 
                                                0500 
 
Simon Hicks       finnCap Ltd                   + 44 (0) 20 7220 
                                                0500 
 
Frank Buhagiar    St Brides Partners Ltd        + 44 (0) 20 7236 
                                                1177 
 
Susie Geliher     St Brides Partners Ltd        + 44 (0) 20 7236 
                                                1177 
 
Notes 
 
Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc has a diversified portfolio of multi-stage 
hydrocarbon assets that includes production, exploration and development 
interests, in countries that are politically stable, have transparent licensing 
processes, and offer attractive terms. In 2018 Europa produced 94 boepd. Its 
highly prospective exploration projects include the Wressle development in the 
UK (targeting production start-up in 2019 at 500 bopd gross) and six licences 
offshore Ireland with the potential to host gross mean un-risked prospective 
resources of 6.2 billion barrels oil equivalent and 2.5 tcf undiscovered GIIP 
across all six licences. 
 
 
 
END 
 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 30, 2018 06:04 ET (10:04 GMT)