United Oil & Gas has terminated the proposed sale of a UK North Sea offshore block containing the Maria discovery after the buyer, Quattro Energy, was unable to raise the funds to complete the transaction.
United Oil & Gas also said that, given that the current phase of the License P2519 expires on November 30, 2023, and a firm commitment to drill a well in the next phase of the license is required to continue the license beyond this date, the company decided not to move into the next phase, and its interest in this license will cease on November 30, 2023.
Brian Larkin, Chief Executive Officer commented: "Over recent years, we have successfully monetized our interests in licenses in both the North Sea and in Italy, using the proceeds to fund our activities in Jamaica, the North Sea, and also corporate G&A. We had identified our interest in the Maria license as non-core to our future strategy and on that basis undertook a farm out process which resulted in the agreement to sell to Quattro on the terms announced in January this year.
"Since signing this agreement with Quattro, we have sought to support their efforts to raise the funds required to complete this transaction and had regular interaction with the Quattro team and their advisors as they progressed their funding process. It is therefore a disappointing outcome for both parties, that due to the challenging regulatory and fiscal backdrop in the North Sea, Quattro were unable to complete their funding process. Throughout the last 12 months, the company has incurred only licence costs in relation to the Maria licence, the cost of which is effectively covered by the $100k non-refundable deposit received in September."
"Our focus remains on progressing the farmout of Jamaica and the upcoming drilling activities in Egypt including the drilling of the ASD-S-1X exploration well later this year."
United has previosly said that the Maria mid-case recoverable resources have been estimated at around six mmboe.