Aberdeen-based oil group Dana Petroleum has moved further into Europe after spending more than £26million on snapping up two more licences.
The firm has taken ownership of the Danish 12/06 licence after buying a 40% stake, along with a 56% stake and the option to take over ownership of the German B20008-73 licence from PA Resources.
The sites, near Dana’s existing operations off the Netherlands coast, could yield the equivalent of up to 32million barrels of oil – worth more than £2billion at current prices.
The move marks another sign of Dana’s growing ambition, with acting chief executive Graham Scotton looking to develop a new Central European hub to bring their Dutch, German and Danish operations together.
“These licences are a great strategic fit for Dana giving us access to resources close to our existing licences and infrastructure,” said Dana’s managing director for the Netherlands, Nick Dancer.
“It will also allow us to fully exploit the wealth of talent and experience we have in the Netherlands team as we grow and develop our European operations.
“We look forward to working with PA Resources and the partnership to appraise the discoveries with a view to bringing them to development.”
Dana – bought by the Korean National Oil Corp in 2010 – already operates the Hanze oil field and Plioscene gas field, along with the Zulu, Snellius and Huygens East prospects near the newly acquired sites.
The Danish site includes the Broder Tuck gas condensate discovery, which is still being appraised, and the Lille John oil find which is due to be drilled next year.
The deal will see independent PA Resources keeping 24% of the Danish licence, and a 34% stake in the German site, after farming out its interests in the fields. The two firms will also work together on bidding for blocks in Denmark’s next licencing round early in 2014.
“Dana has a long operating track record in the Netherlands where its nearest operated facility is the Hanze oil and gas field, only around 50km south of Licence 12/06,” said PA chief executive Mark McAllister.
“There are many geological similarities and operating synergies between Dana’s north Netherlands position and PA’s Danish and German assets and we look forward to working closely with Dana and our co-venturers to progress the exploration, appraisal and development of these assets.”
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