The Parkmead Group plc is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement with Sorgenia E&P (UK) Ltd. to acquire four stakes of 20% interest each in Blocks 47/4d, 47/5d, 47/10c and 48/6c in the UK Southern North Sea. These four blocks contain the 47/10-8 gas discovery as well as the large Pharos gas prospect and several significant additional exploration targets. This acquisition follows Parkmead’s recent deal which saw it enter the Platypus gas field and the Possum gas prospect, both nearby in the Southern Gas Basin. It further highlights Parkmead’s strategy of investing in North Sea fields and blocks where the Group’s technical and commercial teams have an extensive working knowledge of the assets.
The four blocks now being acquired, subject to the usual partner and regulatory approvals, are located in a prolific part of the Southern North Sea, between the producing Amethyst, Ravenspurn, West Sole and Hyde Fields. Importantly, these licence areas are adjacent to Blocks 48/1a, 47/5b and 48/1c recently acquired by Parkmead and holding the Platypus field and the Possum prospect. Both Platypus and Possum are structural traps containing a Rotliegendes age reservoir, which is the dominant gas producing horizon in the Southern North Sea. The Pharos prospect is also a structural trap with the same Rotliegendes reservoir. The historical drilling success rate within this play has been very good. A discovery at Pharos could be jointly developed with the Platypus field, which is only some 14km to the north east of Pharos, and this would significantly increase the economic value of all three accumulations at Platypus, Possum and Pharos.
The operator, Dana Petroleum, holds a 50% stake and the joint venture group plans to drill the Pharos well in 2H 2012. The Pharos prospect is a large closure with a vertical relief of up to 600 ft, and an areal extent of up to 6,000 acres. The planned 2012 exploration well will be drilled in Block 47/5d, towards the boundary with 47/4d, on the north western end of the Pharos Structure. This structure has the potential to contain up to 500 billion cubic feet of gas in place.
Tom Cross, Executive Chairman of Parkmead, commented:
“We are delighted to be gaining stakes in these attractive licence areas, which are in close proximity to our interests in the Platypus gas field and the Possum prospect. These four blocks contain a number of targets, including the large Pharos prospect which we expect to drill later in 2012, following the next well being drilled at Platypus in 1Q 2012.”
