Egdon Resources plc (AIM:EDR) is pleased to advise that the Company is to be offered 11 blocks and part-blocks in the second Tranche of the UK 14th Onshore Oil and Gas Licensing Round as announced today by the Oil and Gas Authority (“OGA”). These are in addition to the 7 blocks and part-blocks the Company was offered in the first Tranche as advised in August 2015. The OGA will now progress towards issuing Petroleum Exploration and Development Licences (“PEDLs”) over the blocks offered in the two Tranches.

In the 14^th Round as a whole, Egdon has been offered interests in a total of 18 blocks and part blocks which will translate into 9 new PEDLs. The new licences will cover a total area of approximately 1126 square kilometres (278,220 acres).  This represents a significant proportion of the blocks for which Egdon applied.  The new blocks to be offered are located in the East Midlands Petroleum Province and the Cleveland Basin and expand the Company’s acreage and opportunity base within these two core areas providing a mix of new, conventional and unconventional resource opportunities.

The blocks to be offered to Egdon in the second Tranche are:

East Midlands – Gainsborough Trough

• SE31c : Egdon 15%, joint venture with Island Gas Energy PLC (“IGas”) (35%, operator) and Total E&P UK Limited (“Total”) (50%), adjoins SE41e offered to the partnership in the first Tranche.
• SK59b : Egdon 15%, joint venture with IGas (35%, operator) and Total (50%), adjoins SK49 offered to the partnership in the first Tranche.

East Midlands – Humber Basin

• TA30, TF39b : Egdon 37.5% and operator, joint venture with Celtique Energie Petroleum Limited (37.5%) and Petrichor Energy UK Limited (25%).
• TF38c : Egdon 75% and operator, joint venture with Terrain Energy Ltd (15%) and Nautical Petroleum Ltd (10%), adjoins PEDL005(R) and contains a portion of the Louth prospect. As part of the farm-out announced in July 2015 Egdon will transfer a 10% interest in this block to Union Jack Oil plc subject to OGA consent.

Cleveland Basin

• NZ51, NZ52b, NZ52c : Egdon 33.333%, joint venture with Third Energy Onshore Limited (33.334%,operator) and Celtique Energie Petroleum Limited (33.333%), surround part of PEDL068 in Teeside which contains the Kirkleatham gas field.
• SE99a, TA09 : Egdon 17.5%, joint venture with Third Energy UK Gas Limited (20.0%, operator), Europa Oil & Gas Limited (22.5%), Shale Petroleum (UK) Limited (22.5%), Petrichor Energy UK Limited (12.5%), and Arenite Petroleum Limited (5.0%), contain the Cloughton tight gas discovery (Bow Valley, 1986) ca. 10km north of Scarborough, also cover part of the site from which Egdon plans to drill a well to test the offshore “A” Prospect gas discovery (Total, 1966).
• NZ90 : Egdon 100%, adjoins SE99a above, covers part of the site for the “A” Prospect well.

Commenting on the 14^th Round offers, Mark Abbott, Managing Director of Egdon Resources plc, said:

“We are delighted with this outcome in what has been a very competitive Licensing Round. The blocks we have been offered in the 14^th Round overall will provide further significant opportunities to grow our business and will be excellent additions to Egdon’s portfolio of UK exploration and development assets. The award of NZ90A and SE99A in the Cleveland Basin means we can now also push ahead with the consenting process for the proposed well to test the considerable potential of the offshore “A” Prospect.

As an established operator with a strong licence holding, we are encouraged by the high level of interest shown in the UK Onshore and are pleased that our good reputation and partnering strategy in the 14^th Round helped us to secure these new licences. We look forward to progressing our evaluations of the new acreage whilst continuing to engage with local stakeholders, and will update shareholders in due course.

View the UKOOG 14th Round Fact Sheet for answers to some common questions and concerns.

Click below to view a map of Egdon’s 14th Round licence offers