Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc, the AIM traded West Africa, UK and Ireland focused oil and gas
exploration, development and production company, announces its final audited results for the 12-month
period ended 31 July 2024.
The full Annual Report and Accounts will be available shortly on the Company’s website at
www.europaoil.com and will be mailed to those shareholders who have requested a paper copy.
Financial performance
• Revenue declined 46% to £3.6 million, reflecting lower oil production (which included a threemonth shut in period at Wressle) and lower realised oil prices (2023: £6.7 million)
• Gross profit of £0.3 million (2023: £3.4 million)
• Pre-tax loss of £6.8 million after non-cash exploration impairment loss of £5.0 million (2023: pretax loss of £0.9 million after non-cash impairment loss of £1.7 million)
• Net cash used in operating activities £0.6 million (2023: £2.8 million net cash generated by
operations)
• Cash balance at 31 July 2024: £1.5 million (2023: £5.2 million)
Operational highlights - Building a balanced portfolio of exploration and production assets
Equatorial Guinea
• Europa announced a ground-breaking deal in December 2023 with the acquisition of a 42.9% stake
in Antler Global Limited (“Antler”), which has an 80% working interest in licence EG-08 offshore
Equatorial Guinea. This gives rise to a joint venture arrangement
• Europa agreed a US$3 million cash subscription for new ordinary shares in Antler, with the
payments being made in four instalments and which has now completed
• EG-08 is a highly prospective licence which has three drill-ready prospects, with internally estimated
Mean Prospective Resource of 1.4 TCF of gas equivalent
• Antler and our technical team has further evaluated the seismic data across the block and has
identified additional prospectivity, resulting in a Mean Prospective Resource of 2.1 TCF of gas
equivalent
• Antler commenced a farm-down process in Q3 this year with a view to bringing in a partner for
drilling, potentially in 2025
• A discovery from only one of the three main prospects could be quickly tied back to existing gas
infrastructure located 9km to the south
Offshore Ireland - lower risk / very high reward infrastructure-led exploration in proven gas play
in the Slyne Basin
• Licence FEL 4/19 contains the Inishkea West gas exploration prospect, which has been mapped
as a large four-way closure with a prospective resource Pmean of 1.5 TCF of recoverable gas
• The FEL 4/19 licence extension was granted by the Irish Government, extending the licence term
to 31 January 2026
• Following the licence extension, a farm-out process has begun again with the aim of bringing in a
partner to assist with the drilling of the prospect
• Inishkea West is within easy tie-back range of the Corrib gas field situated some 18 kilometres to
the southeast. This proximity to the Corrib infrastructure, the mapped four-way closure, the large
prospective resource, and the reduced seal risk means that the Inishkea West prospect has become
the primary exploration target on the FEL 4/19 licence
Onshore UK – net production declined 48% to 137 barrels of oil per day (“bopd”) (2023: 265 bopd)
following planned downtime and increased water cut on the Wressle oilfield
• We continue to progress our Cloughton asset to determine if commercial rates can be obtained
using modern completion techniques so that the 192 BCF (Pmean) GIIP potential can be
monetised. Terms have been agreed for the site and work has now commenced to secure the
necessary permits required to drill an appraisal well, expected to be in 2026. Given the proximity
to the UK gas network and quality of the natural gas contained within the reservoir, a successful
appraisal well could be quickly brought online, displacing LNG imports and reducing global
emissions
• Wressle production declined throughout the period
o Gross production averaged 357 bopd throughout the period (2023: 710 bopd), with
Europa’s net share equating to 107 bopd (2023: 213 bopd)
o A jet pump was installed on the Wressle-1 well that took three months to complete and
resulted in interrupted production between mid-August through to early November 2023
• A new seismic interpretation and mapping exercise across the Wressle field has highlighted a
potentially significant increase in resources from the Ashover Grit and the results of the analysis
are now being incorporated into the field development plan. The intention is that two back-to-back
development wells will be drilled from the existing Wressle site. Planning consent was received for
the project in September, however the North Lincolnshire Council’s decision to grant planning
permission has subsequently been challenged in light of the Finch Supreme Court judgement which
ruled that scope three emissions must be considered in planning applications for oil and gas
developments. This is expected to result in the planning approval being rescinded. The Wressle
Joint Venture is now going to submit further information that covers potential scope three
emissions such that a future planning process could be approved. The wells will be drilled at the
earliest opportunity, once the necessary consents and regulatory approvals have been received
• In addition to the two development wells, work is ongoing to monetise the associated gas being
produced from Wressle by connecting to a local gas distribution network. This work is expected to
be completed around the same time as the development wells and is subject to the same regulatory
approvals
• The revised CPR on Wressle was completed in H2 2023 by ECRE which incorporated the new
field interpretation, historical production performance data and the field development plan. The
key highlights of the CPR included: 263% increase in 2P Reserves compared to 2016 CPR,
reclassification of 1,883 mboe in Penistone Flags Contingent Resources to 2P Reserves, 59%
upgrade to the Ashover Grit and Wingfield Flags Estimated Ultimate Recoverable and 23%
upgrade to Broughton North Prospective Resources
• Total net production of 137 bopd was produced from Europa’s UK onshore fields during the year
with Wressle contributing roughly 78% of this and the remainder coming from the three older
fields
Offshore UK - Serenity discovery in the North Sea
• The recent change in government in the UK and the continued uncertainty of the domestic
regulatory and fiscal environment has sharply increased the possibility of future fiscal changes for
the oil and gas industry, which we believe could negatively impact the economics of the Serenity
project
• Given that the Serenity licence was due to expire at the end of September 2024, we have therefore
taken the decision to allow the licence to lapse, which has resulted in a £4.9 million impairment of
the capitalised costs associated with the project
UK offshore licensing round
• In 2022, Europa participated in the UK Government's 33rd offshore oil and gas licensing round
and in May 2024 the Company was contacted by the North Sea Transition Authority (the “NSTA”)
who proposed a licence-sharing arrangement between Europa and another party for a new licence.
After careful consideration, the Company has decided not to accept the proposed shared licence
given the recent new country entry into the highly prospective EG-08 licence and the limited
resources of the Company. The Board believes that the risk/reward proposition for new assets in
the UK is currently challenging
Board
• Simon Oddie resigned in November 2023
• Stephen Williams resigned in November 2023
• Simon Ashby-Rudd was appointed in December 2023
• Eleanor Rowley was appointed in April 2024
Post reporting period events
• In September 2024, we were delighted that planning approval was awarded for two new
development wells on the Wressle field which we expect to drill back-to-back next year. As a result
of the Finch Supreme Court ruling and a proposed legal challenge to the granting of planning
permission for the next phase of the Wressle development, it is expected that the planning consent
will be rescinded once the court process has concluded. The Wressle Joint Venture plan to submit
further information that covers potential scope three emissions such that a future planning process
could be approved
• We have decided against applying to extend the Serenity licence in the North Sea following its
expiry at the end of September 2024 and given the ongoing uncertainties around the oil and gas
fiscal regime in the UK
Investor presentation and Q&A
CEO William Holland, COO Alastair Stuart and Chief Geologist Jamie White will be hosting an online
presentation and Q&A for investors on Monday, 2 December 2024.
To register for the event, please visit:
https://www.engageinvestor.com/company/europa-oil-gas-holdings-plc?tab=events&company=follow
Change of accounting reference date
The Company is changing its accounting reference date from 31 July to 31 December, with immediate
effect. Accordingly, its current accounting period, which commenced on 1 August 2024, will now end on
31 December 2025.
As a result of this change, the Company’s forthcoming financial reporting calendar will be as follows:
• Announcement of unaudited interims for the five-month period from 1 August 2024 to 31
December 2024, to be announced within 3 months of the period end, being by no later than 31
March 2025;
• Announcement of unaudited interims for the eleven-month period from 1 August 2024 to 30 June
2025, to be announced within 3 months of the period end, being by no later than by 30 September
2025; and
• Publication of audited report and accounts for the seventeen-month period from 1 August 2024 to
31 December 2025, to be announced within 6 months of the period end, being by no later than by
30 June 2026.
William Holland, CEO of Europa, said:
“Europa announced a highly material new country entrance during the 2023/24 financial year, with the
acquisition of a 42.9% stake in Antler Global, providing us with significant near-term exposure to
exploration in Equatorial Guinea through the EG-08 licence. I cannot overstate how exciting an opportunity
this is for Europa and its stakeholders, given the sheer scale of the prize on offer in this highly prospective
hydrocarbon province. With over 2 TCF of nearfield, infrastructure-led, low-risk, Amplitude versus Offset
(“AVO”) supported prospects identified which can be quickly brought online, EG-08 is a world-class asset.
We have a data room up and running and have already seen considerable interest from industry. We are
targeting completion of a farm-out within the coming months and have concurrently started planning for a
well to be drilled, which could spud as early as next year.
We continue to progress our Irish business throughout the year and are hoping to farm-out a portion of
our 100% owned licence FEL 4/19, which contains the 1.5 TCF Inishkea West near-field exploration
prospect. I am pleased to report that a licence extension was granted by the Irish Government, extending
the licence term from January 2024 to 31 January 2026. Last October, we announced the results of our
internally generated seismic reprocessing which has materially improved the subsurface imaging of the
prospect. We now have much greater confidence in the quality of the seal and trap at Inishkea West. A
prospect of this size and quality simply has to be drilled in my opinion, not least because of the significant
impact a successful discovery would have on Ireland’s security of energy supply for a number of years.
Since assuming operatorship of Cloughton in July 2023 we have made steady progress with the appraisal
work on PEDL343, which is an onshore UK licence. We have agreed terms for a site on which to establish
a drilling pad and have initiated the planning approval process in order to drill an appraisal well on the field
to test if the estimated 192 BCF (Pmean) GIIP can be produced at commercial rates. We believe that whilst
the UK continues to consume gas, which is forecast to continue beyond 2050, that the most responsible
source is, both commercially and environmentally, domestic gas. For that reason, a development of the
Cloughton gas field is fully aligned with the UK Government’s British Energy Security Strategy and Net
Zero 2050 goals.
We continued to develop and produce from our core assets onshore UK, where we continue to invest in
our flagship Wressle oilfield. Planning is ongoing to develop the gassy Penistone Flags reservoir with two
back-to-back wells as soon as the necessary approvals have been received. We believe that these wells will
boost oil production and enable the export of gas into the local network grid, thus eliminating the need for
flaring.
In the year, we delivered revenues of £3.6 million, and whilst this was roughly half of the previous year’s,
we invested significantly in the Wressle field with the successful installation of a jet pump. The extensive
works on the jet pump and associated production facilities meant that Wressle was offline for three months
which materially impacted the volume of oil that we produced. This was further exacerbated by lower oil
prices during the period, resulting in the reduced revenue for the year. Nevertheless, we ended the year with
a cash balance of £1.5 million in Europa accounts, £0.7 million in Antler accounts (gross) and we continue
to generate cashflow from Wressle and our other onshore UK assets.
Throughout the year, we worked on various development options for the Serenity oil discovery in the
Central North Sea. However, we became increasingly concerned about the political and fiscal backdrop in
the UK as time progressed. We have evaluated the options for commercialisation of the asset and do not
believe in the current environment it is attractive for Europa shareholders. Consequently, in September
2024 we chose not to extend the Serenity licence, which we believe is in the best interest of Europa and its
shareholders.
Following the expected activity from our new-country entry into Equatorial Guinea, progress with our
onshore UK projects at Cloughton and Wressle along with our Irish acreage, I believe we are well positioned
to continue to grow the Company, and I look forward to updating shareholders over the coming twelve
months.”