Page 10 - Euroil Week 04 2020

EurOil INVESTMENT EurOil
Jersey takes back Verbier stake from Equinor
UK
Equinor acquired the stake from Jersey in 2016.But subsequent drilling results disappointed.
UK junior Jersey Oil & Gas is once again search- ing for a partner to help develop the Verbier oil discovery in the North Sea, after striking a deal to buy back a 70% stake in the project from Nor- way’s Equinor.
Equinor took the operating stake in the P2170 licence containing Verbier in 2016, but has now opted to pull out following disappointing results from an appraisal well drilled there last year. Jer- sey announced entering a conditional sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with Equinor to take back the stake and operatorship of the licence on January 27.
Under the deal, Jersey will make a $3mn con- tingent payment to Equinor upon the UK’s Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) sanctioning the field’s development, and pay out a further $5mn once first oil is achieved.
Jersey will also make royalty payments on the first 35mn barrels of oil that are produced at Verbier, situated in the outer Moray Firth around 97km from Aberdeen.
Jersey and Equinor initially estimated Verbi- er’s size at up to 130mn barrels of oil equivalent (boe). But results from the 2019 well indicated a resource of only 25mn boe.
The London-listed firm said the new deal with Equinor would add 17.5mn boe of best-es- timate discovered volumes to its resource base in the Greater Buchan Area (GBA), which includes Verbier, bringing the total to 142mn boe. The acquisition, subject to OGA approval, will raise its interest in P2170 to 88%. London-based Cieco UK controls the remaining 12% holding.
“We are now well placed to progress our development plans through concept select, before launching a farm-out process to attract industry partners to join us in unlocking the significant value that exists within the Greater Buchan Area,” Jersey CEO Andrew Benitz said.
The farm-out will cover Verbier, the main Buchan field, the J2 and Glenn oil discoveries and nine exploration prospects. ™
POLICY
Total faces court case over climate policies
FRANCE
The case sets a precedent.
SOME 14 French local authorities and several NGOs plan to take Total to court, over its failure to address climate change adequately.
The ground-breaking case is based on a 2017 French law called the duty of vigilance, which requires large companies to set out clear meas- ures to prevent human rights violations or envi- ronmental damage resulting from their activities. The NGOs acting as plaintiffs said Total had not set out in enough detail how it intended to curb its emissions, and that its policies were out of sync with the Paris Climate Accord’s goal of restricting global temperature rise.
A court summons was made in Nanterre, outside Paris, on January 28.
“We’re filing a lawsuit against them because they’re still not making the energy transi- tion necessary to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees,” Paul Mougeolle from environmental NGO Notre Affaire a Tous said in a statement. “Total has 1% of greenhouse gases [GHGs] worldwide – more than the carbon footprint of France. So we think Total has a special responsi- bilitytowardsthisenergytransition.”
“It’s the first climate litigation in France
against a private company, and it aims to change that company’s strategy in terms of greenhouse gas emissions,” Sandra Cossart, head of Sherpa, a French NGO focused on economic transparency and corporate-related human rights, added.
Under the vigilance law, which Sherpa lob- bied hard to be adopted, “Total is legally required to identify the risks resulting from its contribu- tions to global warming and to take the neces- sarymeasurestoreduceitsemissions,”shesaid.
Total has sought to improve its environ- mental image by investing in alternative energy sources such as wind and solar. Its Total Quadran subsidiary operates 11 wind farms and 35 solar power plants in France with a combined capac- ityof143MW.ThecompanyannouncedonJan- uary 28 it had sold a 50% stake in Quadran to Banque des Territoires, to raise funds to expand its clean energy business further.
The French state has also faced court action over its climate credentials. Last year Green- peace, Oxfam and other environmental groups filed a legal claim against the government, accus- ingitofhavinginsufficientpoliciestocutemis- sions. ™
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