North Sea newcomer Finder Energy has doubled the number of UK offshore licences in its portfolio through an acquisition.
Finder, headquartered in Perth, Australia, has swooped for licences P2502 and P2524, which had been held by Azinor Catalyst, backed by Seacrest Capital Group.
Azinor co-founders and former directors Nick Terrell and Henry Morris have now joined Finder and will drive their new employer’s North Sea growth strategy.
Mr Terrell, formerly managing director of Azinor, is now UK country manager at Finder, and Mr Morris is UK business development manager.
Finder, founded in 2004, made its entry to the North Sea in February with the award of licence P2530 in the 32nd offshore round.
The award of Finder’s second licence, P2528, was announced last month.
One of the licences acquired from Azinor, P2502, is in the northern North Sea, about 85 kilometres north-east of Shetland.
Finder, which has taken 100% of the licence, said it held “significant potential” with more than 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent identified across 11 leads.
The top prospect in P2524, in the central North Sea, is called Barracuda.
Finder said it would be targeting the same structures that host the nearby prolific Brae oilfields.
The acreage also contains a further three prospects and leads and two small oil and condensate discoveries.
Finder currently holds an operated 40% working interest in this licence, with Harbour Energy holding the remaining 60%.
Chief executive Damon Neaves said: “These two acquisitions build on Finder’s recently announced entry into the North Sea through the 32nd UK Offshore Licensing Round and are in line with our strategy to secure high-quality exploration acreage close to discoveries and infrastructure.
“We expect to announce further North Sea acquisitions as well as new partnerships in the near future.
“We are also pleased to announce that Nick Terrell and Henry Morris will be joining the Finder team to drive our UK North Sea growth strategy.”
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