Orcadian Energy reports that the UK's North Sea oil and gas regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority ('NSTA') has approved a three-year extension to the Second Term of the Pilot Licence P2244.
The new licence expiry date is now 1 December 2028.
P2244 contains the Pilot field and Orcadian has an 18.75% carried interest in the licence. The operator of the licence is preparing a refreshed sub-surface description of the Pilot field, informed by the high-quality 3D seismic provided by TGS ASA, and supported by the Orcadian team as they progress the project towards a Final Investment Decision. Securing this licence extension to enable the development and submission of an updated field development plan has obviously been essential and Orcadian looks forward to supporting the operator to deliver a plan that maximises oil recovery and minimises carbon dioxide emissions in the production process.
Steve Brown, Orcadian CEO, said:
'Pilot can be a new low-carbon hub on the Western Platform in the Central North Sea with the potential to produce a total recoverable resource of well over 100 mmbbl from Pilot and adjacent discoveries. Exploration success and renewed licensing of near-infrastructure discoveries could raise the potential recovery from this hub to nearly 500 mmbbl.
'This licence extension our operator the time and space to design a low-emissions development scheme that can thrive in the post-EPL fiscal regime that has been proposed and consulted on by Treasury, which everyone in the industry is awaiting with bated breath and which is the fiscal regime that matters for Orcadian's projects.'
Source: Orcadian Energy
