Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc（AIM 上市的英国、爱尔兰和西非专注于石油和天然气勘探、开发和生产的公司）宣布，北海过渡管理局（“NSTA”）已就该公司的申请与该公司联系作为 2023 年 1 月 12 日结束的第 33 届英国离岸许可轮的一部分的许可证（“许可证”），NSTA 提议 Europa 与许可证另一方联姻。经过仔细考虑，公司决定不接受拟议的婚姻，并决定通知 NSTA，如果 NSTA 随后决定将全部许可证授予公司作为唯一所有者，Europa 将拒绝报价。

作为最初申请许可证的一部分，Europa 在 2022 年第四季度花了一些时间分析可用的地下数据、货币化选项以及许可证内资源开发的后续经济效益。自本次分析以来，经营状况和财政环境的各个方面都发生了变化并且仍然存在不确定性，这降低了该许可证的经济和战略吸引力。因此，该公司相信，其资源可以更好地部署在现有资产上，并在其核心关注领域内寻找新的机会。

Europa 首席执行官威尔·霍兰德 (Will Holland) 表示：
“我要感谢 NSTA 建议这次联姻，并让 Europa 有机会参与我们在第 33 轮申请的许可证。自提出申请以来，我们已经获得了对赤道几内亚 EG-08 许可证的兴趣，我们认为这是非常重要的，考虑到公司的规模和我们有限的资源，我们必须专注于我们认为可以产生重大价值的最佳风险/回报主张。对于我们的股东来说，任何新资产都需要与正在评估的其他机会进行仔细考虑，以确保我们将资本配置在最有可能为股东带来回报的资产上。”

Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc, the AIM quoted UK, Ireland and West Africa focused oil and gas exploration, development and production company, announces that it was contacted by the North Sea Transition Authority (the "NSTA") regarding the Company's application for a licence as part of the 33rd UK Offshore Licensing Round that closed on 12 January 2023 (the "Licence"), therein the NSTA proposed a marriage between Europa and another party for the Licence. After careful consideration, the Company has decided not to accept the proposed marriage and it has also decided to notify the NSTA that, if the NSTA subsequently decide to award the Licence, in its entirety, to the Company as the sole owner, Europa would decline the offer.

As part of its original application for the Licence, Europa spent some time during Q4 2022 analysing the available sub-surface data, the monetisation options and subsequent economics of a development of the resources within the Licence. Since this analysis, various aspects of the operating conditions and the fiscal environment have changed and remain uncertain, this has reduced the economic and strategic attractiveness of the Licence. As such, the Company believes that its resources are better deployed on its existing assets and looking for new opportunities within its core areas of focus.

Will Holland, Chief Executive Officer of Europa, said:
"I'd like to thank the NSTA for suggesting this marriage and giving Europa the opportunity to participate in the licence that we applied for in the 33rd Round. Since making the application we have acquired an interest in the EG-08 licence in Equatorial Guinea, which we believe is very material. Given the size of the Company and our limited resources it is essential that we focus on where we see the best risk/reward proposition that can generate significant value for our shareholders. Any new asset needs to be considered carefully against other opportunities that are under evaluation to ensure that we are deploying our capital on assets that have the best potential of returning value to our shareholders."