KUALA LUMPUR: Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd’s indirect wholly owned subsidiary Anasuria Hibiscus UK Limited (AHUK) has completed the acquisition of North Sea Blocks 15/18d and 15/19b (License P2366 or Blocks), from United Oil & Gas PLC and Swift Exploration Limited for up to US$5 million (RM21 million) cash.
Completion of the acquisition occurred pursuant to the receipt of approval from the UK’s Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) for the assignment of License P2366 to AHUK from the sellers and the appointment of AHUK as exploration operator on Dec 4, 2019.
In accordance with the terms of the conditional sale & purchase agreement executed on Oct 7, 2019 (SPA), a further US$900,000 has been paid upon achieving completion of the acquisition.
The blocks are located offshore in the UK sector of the North Sea, 250km northeast of Aberdeen.
The blocks include the Crown Discovery which consists of 2C contingent resources that range between 4 to 8 million barrels of oil, subject to an independent third party expert assessment.
The blocks are located 12km south-east of Marigold field, which together with the Sunflower field, was acquired by AHUK in October 2018.
United and Swift were awarded License P2366 as part of the OGA’s 30th Licencing Round, in August 2018, and they each hold 95% and 5% participating interest respectively.
AHUK holds 50% operated interest in Licence P198 Blocks 15/13a and 15/13b containing the Marigold and Sunflower oilfields respectively, in addition to 50% joint-operating interests in the P013 licence consisting of the Teal, Teal South and Guillemot A fields, as well as 19.3% non-operating interest in the P185 licence consisting of the Cook field. The Teal, Teal South, Guillemot A and Cook fields which produce oil and gas to the Anasuria floating production storage and offloading facility are collectively known as the Anasuria Cluster. The Anasuria Cluster is located offshore in the UK sector of North Sea.
Subject to further milestones being achieved post SPA completion, an additional sum of US$3 million will be paid within seven business days of the actual date of approval of the Marigold Field Development Plan (FDP) which includes the development of the Crown discovery as part of the overall Marigold development, by the relevant UK regulatory authority, which is expected to be received by the end of 2020.
However if FDP approval is not achieved, or if the Marigold FDP submitted does not include the development of the Crown discovery, AHUK may, at its discretion, proceed with the US$3 million payment or transfer License P2366 back to the sellers at nominal consideration without any further payment obligation. In addition, up to US$1 million will be paid through an overriding royalty scheme once the Crown discovery has commenced production.
Given its proximity to Marigold, the contemplated development of Crown is based on a single well subsea tieback to the Marigold field.
