Antrim Energy Inc. announced it has signed an agreement with Premier Oil UK Limited to jointly explore development options for the Fyne Area located in the UK Central North Sea.
Under the terms of the agreement, Premier will pay an initial consideration of US$2 million to Antrim, and will have the option to acquire a 39.9% interest in the Fyne Licence (Block 21/28a) in return for a payment (“carry”) up to US$50 million, less the initial consideration, towards the pre-development and development costs of the Fyne Field.
Antrim owns a 75% working interest in the Fyne Licence and a 100% working interest in the adjacent Blocks 21/28b, 21/29c, 21/24b and 21/24c (the Greater Fyne Area). The Agreement also provides Premier the option to participate up to 50% alongside Antrim in a planned drilling programme scheduled to start as early as the 2nd quarter 2011 in the Greater Fyne Area.
Any licence assignment under the agreement will be subject to the usual UK government approvals.
Block 21/28a was assigned proved plus probable reserves of 23.3 million barrels of oil (“MMBO”), net 17.5 MMBO to Antrim, by independent engineering consultants McDaniel & Associates Consultants Ltd. as at 31 December 2009.
Antrim drilled two wells and three sidetracks in a 2008 appraisal programme of the Fyne Field. Well 21/28a-10Z was tested at rates up to 4,000 barrels of oil per day. Wells 21/28a-10Z and 21/28a-9Y were cased and are available for use in the development of the Fyne Field. Initial drilling of the Dandy and Area 4 fields, also on the Fyne Licence, was completed by previous operators of Block 21/28a. The Fyne Field lies immediately west – southwest of the Guillemot group of oil fields, which have produced in excess of 70 MMBO to date. Fyne is also approximately 10 km east of the recently announced Blakeney oil discovery in Block 21/27b and 35 km north of the recently announced Catcher oil discovery in Block 28/9, both of which have reservoirs of comparable age to those in the Greater Fyne Area.
Stephen Greer, President and CEO of Antrim Energy, commented: “We are very pleased to have entered into this agreement with Premier. This is a major step towards the development of the significant reserves already established in the Fyne Licence, and with Premier’s recent experience in the Catcher discovery, adds to the exploration potential of the surrounding licences.”
Stellar Energy Advisors of London, U.K., acted as advisors to Antrim in this transaction.
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Source:Antrim , October 8, 2010;