Offshore staff
LONDON – Jersey Oil & Gas has a conditional agreement to acquire Equinor’s 70% operated interest in license P2170 in the UK central North Sea.
The concession, which covers blocks 20/5b and 21/1d, includes the Verbier oil discovery.
Jersey’s transaction would involve contingent payments of $3 million upon sanction by the UK’s Oil & Gas Authority of a development plan for Verbier; $5 million upon first oil; and royalty payments on the first 35 MMbbl produced.
Assuming the arrangement goes forward, Jersey would increase its 2C discovered resources across the Greater Buchan Area (GBA) by 17.5 MMboe to 142 MMboe (net), also securing ownership of various potential high-impact exploration opportunities elsewhere in the license.
At the same time, the acquisition would simplify the license ownership structure ahead of the company’s planned GBA farm-out process.
As for the GBA development project, Jersey says detailed subsurface and engineering work is progressing with a key project gate of concept selection due this summer. The project would take in the prematurely shut-down Buchan oil field, the Verbier, J2 and Glenn oil discoveries and nine exploration prospects.
Andrew Benitz, Jersey’s CEO, said the GBA development would “be at the forefront of the energy transition as well as being a new area hub that encourages regional industry collaboration to maximize the economic recovery of resources in this prolific part of the central North Sea.”
