Granby Oil and Gas plc is pleased to announce that it has been offered 12 additional blocks and part blocks to be held under six licences in the North Sea as part of the 23rd UKCS Licensing Round announced by the DTI. Granby received one of the highest number (11) of operated blocks for an independent company.
This award takes Granby’s acreage position in the North Sea to 22 blocks and part blocks in total, and has significantly strengthened the company’s presence in its existing core area in the central North Sea, and brings the company into the Southern Gas and Firth of Forth basins for the first time. A number of the blocks offered are adjoining Granby’s existing licences, where cross boundary prospects had previously been mapped.
Granby has been offered one traditional licence with a seismic work programme, and five promote licences with work programmes including reprocessing and re-evaluations of pre-existing datasets. The geophysical company TGS-NOPEC is a 33.33% partner with Granby in a number of the promote licence awards. Faroe Petroleum plc (as operator) is also a partner with Granby in one of the awards.
Applications for blocks 13/25, 14/9, 43/7 and 44/27b were made under an existing Acquisition and Alliance Deed, under which Elixir Petroleum Ltd has the option to be assigned one half of Granby’s interest in these blocks.
Commenting on these awards, Managing Director David Grassick said;
“These awards enable Granby to continue its successful strategy of building a significant portfolio of assets through the discovery and exploitation of oil and gas reserves in the North Sea. The new plays and prospects in this acreage have increased the value and diversity of our portfolio significantly.”
Executive Director Richard Moreton added:
“We are very pleased with these awards which enhance Granby’s presence in the Central North Sea and add a number of exciting new prospects to the company’s inventory. We look forward to working with our new partners, TGS-NOPEC in the Southern Gas Basin, and with Faroe Petroleum in the Central North Sea.”
Martin Whitehead, Exploration Director of Granby Oil and Gas, said:
“This is an excellent result for Granby’s exploration team, in a very competitive licensing round. We are pleased to have been offered so many blocks with only modest work obligations which demonstrates the quality of our technical work for the applications.”