UK Oil & Gas PLC (London AIM: UKOG) is pleased to announce that following the Court of Appeal's 9th January 2024 ruling refusing any further appeals against Loxley's lawful planning consent (RNS of 10 January 2024), the North Sea Transition Authority has now granted a one-year extension to the PEDL234 licence's Retention Area Work Programme in which the Loxley gas discovery is contained.
In order to retain the full 300 km² licence area without any future partial relinquishment, the Company must now commence drilling the Loxley-1 appraisal borehole no later than 30 June 2025. Loxley-1 is designed to confirm the commercial viability of the Company's material 100%-owned Loxley gas discovery and its related hydrogen feedstock project.
Loxley's current Competent Persons Report ("CPR") (see: RNS 21 February 2023) assessed that Loxley, one of the UK onshore's largest historic gas discoveries, contains a mid-case 2C Contingent Resources recoverable volume of 31.0 billion cubic feet net to UKOG. The CPR's associated post-tax 2C case present value (at 10% discount rate) was assessed at £124 million net to UKOG using end December 2022 gas prices and £87 million net to UKOG using an RPS Energy forward price forecast. The CPR is available on the Company's website www.ukogplc.com .
The Loxley CPR's recoverable volumes stated as Contingent Resources (as defined in the glossary below) should not be construed as Reserves (also defined below). Further successful development of the asset would be required to seek to move the CPR classification to Reserves.