Page 9 - EurOil Week 09 2021

EurOil INVESTMENT EurOil

Prospex seals Spanish gas-to-power deal

SPAIN LONDON-LISTED junior Prospex Energy the licences. But Prospex intends to expand gas
announced the closure of the takeover of a Span- production by sinking new wells and possibly
Prospex wants to ish gas-to-power project on March 1, over a year working over existing ones, in turn increasing
ramp up the project’s after agreeing the deal. power generation. The electricity plant currently
production. Prospex and Australia’s Warrego Energy works at only 22% utilisation.
agreed on the acquisition of the El Romeral pro- Prospex paid a mere €375,000 ($453,000)
ject in December 2019 from Petroleum Oil and for its share, even though the El Romeral power
Gas Espana, through their joint venture Tarba plant cost €10mn to build. The deal “represents
Energia. Warrego has a 50.1% interest in Tarba, excellent value,” Prospex chairman Bill Smith
while Prospex has 49.9%. said in a statement. “El Romeral however was
They obtained necessary approvals from not just acquired for the value on offer but also
Spanish authorities towards the end of last year for the potential to add value.”
and had hoped to close the deal on January 31, If the partners succeed in bringing the power
but delayed the process by a month. plant to full capacity, it will generate €4mn in
When it announced the acquisition, Prospex annual revenues, Smith said. Most of this sum
said El Romeral “not only promises reve- would flow through to the bottom line.
nues from day one, but also significant upside Prospex’s other main focus is in the Po Valley
potential.” of northern Italy, where it has a 17% interest in Po
The project consists of three licence areas Valley Energy-operated Podere Gallina explora-
hosting three wells that supply gas to an 8.1- tion permit. Podere Gallina contains the Selva
MW power station. The acreage also contains gas field, where the project partners plan to start
two development locations and 11 very-low risk production before mid-year. Gas is expected
prospects with gross contingent and prospect to flow at an initial rate of up to 150,000 cubic
gas resources of 142mn cubic metres and 2.55bn metres per day.
cubic metres respectively. Prospex also had a 50% interest in an onshore
There is no committed work programme at Romanian block but sold it last October. ™

EnQuest farms out Eagle find for $1

UK LONDON-LISTED EnQuest has agreed to farm Enquest has also bought into the Bressay
out its Eagle oil and gas field in the North Sea to heavy oilfield operated by Norway’s Equinor
The small-sized Malaysia’s Anasuria Hibiscus for a nominal $1, in January, with a view to tying back to Kraken.
discovery was at the the company announced on February 25. Bressay is one of the largest undeveloped fields
heart of a dispute in The deal, due to close in the second quarter on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).
2016-2017 between of 2021, will see EnQuest transfer an 85% inter- The small-sized Eagle project was at the heart
EnQuest and Dana est in Eagle and operatorship of the discovery to of a dispute in 2016-2017 between EnQuest and
Petroleum. Anasuria. The Malaysian company in turn will South Korea’s Dana Petroleum. EnQuest drilled
cover costs relating to EnQuest’s remaining 15% a well at Eagle in the Central North Sea in 2016
stake in Eagle up to first production. on a 100% working interest basis, only for Dana
Eagle’s one well is on track to come on stream to claim days later that it had a 50% stake in Eagle
in September 2021, with output due to peak at and had not authorised EnQuest to drill. The
8,500 barrels per day (bpd) of oil and 3mn cubic dispute ended a year later, when Dana agreed to
feet (85,000 cubic metres per day) of gas. Pro- leave Eagle.
duction decline will begin in August of the fol- Eagle is situated in the Greater Kittiwake
lowing year. Area, in which EnQuest bought a 50% stake
EnQuest is looking to fast-track new projects from Centrica in 2014. The Greater Kittiwake
to offset older ones that are entering decline Area holds the Kittiwake, Mallard, Gadwall,
or winding down completely. The company Goosander and Grouse fields.
began decommissioning its Thistle and Heather EnQuest filed an environmental statement in
platforms last year, and also chose to close the 2019, which stated that there was potential for
mature Don and Alma-Galia fields in light of a larger field development involving additional
the collapse in oil prices that resulted from the wells and tiebacks if the initial Eagle project is
pandemic. Its flagship Kraken oil project also a success. The company has claimed before that
entered decline recently, less than four years after the discovery is similar in size to the 6mn barrel
its start-up. Gadwell deposit. ™

Week 09 04•March•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9