Independent Oil and Gas (IOG) converted its bid for the North Sea’s Skipper licence to 100% ownership.
The firm today confirmed it had acquired the remaining 50% of licence P1609, which contains the Skipper discovery.
Chief executive Mark Routh said: “We are delighted to have completed this material acquisition. We anticipate the commencement of drilling at the end of January or early February 2016 and look forward to making further announcements in due course.”
IOG struck a string of inventive financial deals during its bid to own Skipper, including “very significant contractor deferrals”.
GE Oil & Gas and London Oil & Gas have both fronted the firm capital, totalling $4.75million.
As previously announced a consideration of $3million will be payable at Field Development Plan approval stage and a further $15million will be payable shortly after first oil.
Skipper has independently verified gross 2C resources of 26.2 MMBbls. IOG management estimates that the recoverable oil from Skipper is 34.1 MMBbls based on a recovery factor of 25%, compared to the historic CPR estimate of 19%. Successful flow tests from nearby heavy oil fields substantiate the company’s estimate of a 25% recovery factor.
