Commencement of drilling on the Verbier Prospect

RNS Number : 8490N

Jersey Oil and Gas PLC

14 August 2017

 

14 August 2017

Jersey Oil and Gas plc

("Jersey Oil & Gas", "JOG" or the "Company")

Commencement of drilling on the Verbier Prospect

Jersey Oil & Gas (AIM: JOG), an independent upstream oil and gas company ‎focused on the UK Continental Shelf ("UKCS") region of the North Sea, is pleased to announce that drilling operations have commenced on well 20/05b-13 on UK Seaward Licence P.2170, Blocks 20/5b & 21/1d (the "P.2170 Licence") (the "Exploration Well"). Drilling of the Exploration Well will test the Verbier prospect, located within the P.2170 Licence area, using the semi-submersible rig Transocean Spitsbergen.

The drilling programme which, depending on the results of the initial well, may include a side-track well, is expected to take up to 70 days.

Statoil (U.K.) Limited ("Statoil"), operator of the P.2170 Licence, will fund all costs up to US$25 million in respect of the Exploration Well. JOG also benefits from a further cash carry of 10 per cent. of well costs from its co-venturer CIECO Exploration and Production (UK) Limited ("CIECO").

The co-venturers in the P.2170 Licence and their respective interests are: Statoil 70%, JOG 18% and CIECO 12%.

Andrew Benitz, CEO of Jersey Oil & Gas, commented:

"We are pleased to announce that drilling operations on the Verbier prospect have now commenced. The Verbier prospect is estimated to have mean prospective resources of 162MMBOE and has the potential to add considerable value to our joint venture partnership."

Ron Lansdell, COO of Jersey Oil & Gas, commented:

"The drilling of the Verbier prospect is the culmination of several years of hard and creative work by the joint venture partnership. The P.2170 Licence was previously operated by Jersey Oil & Gas alongside CIECO, and we significantly de-risked the prospect prior to negotiating the farm-out to Statoil, the current operator. Success at Verbier could provide significant impetus for potential future exploration of the neighbouring Cortina prospect within the P.2170 Licence area."

Enquiries:

Jersey Oil and Gas plc	Andrew Benitz, CEO	C/o Camarco: Tel:  [phone]
Strand Hanson Limited	James Harris Matthew Chandler James Bellman	Tel:  [phone]
Arden Partners plc	Chris Hardie Benjamin Cryer	Tel: [phone]
BMO Capital Markets	Neil Haycock Tom Rider	Tel: [phone]
Camarco	Billy Clegg Georgia Edmonds  James Crothers	Tel:  [phone]

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.

Notes to Editors:

Jersey Oil & Gas is a UK E&P Company focused on the North Sea. The Company owns an 18 per cent. interest in the P.2170 licence, Blocks 20/5b & 21/1d, Inner Moray Firth, where it is currently participating in a Statoil funded and operated exploration well on the Verbier prospect. A Competent Persons Report published in March 2017, commissioned from ERC Equipoise Ltd estimated the Verbier prospect to contain 162MMboe gross mean prospective resources. The licence also hosts the Cortina prospect (124mmboe gross mean prospective resources) and Meribel lead which are both Upper Jurassic targets like Verbier.

The Company plans to potentially build a major production portfolio via acquisitions coinciding with the cyclical recovery in the oil price and the current opportune buying market in the North Sea. The Company is involved in multiple sales processes and intends to draw on its management team's considerable experience, knowledge and expertise to deliver shareholder value from its stated production acquisition strategy.

 

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