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Parkmead takes full control of West of Shetland exploration targets

Published: 02:40 04 Apr 2017 EDT

Offshore oil drilling
The Sanda prospects are estimated to have the potential for 280mln barrels of recoverable oil.

The Parkmead Group Plc (LON:PMG) has taken full control of the Sanda exploration prospects in the West of Shetland region of the UK continental shelf.

It has increased its stake in the potentially high impact exploration venture, within licence block 205/13, to 100% from 56%.

Located in the Faroe-Shetland Trough, to the north east of Hurricane Energy’s Lancaster field, Sanda North and Sanda South are both seen as large Palaeocene prospects which are estimated to have potential for some 280mln barrels of recoverable oil.

The North Sea focussed oiler highlighted that the primary exploration play is the Paleocene Vaila Formation, which forms the reservoir in nearby oilfields such as Foinaven, Schiehallion and Loyal.

It also noted that both Sanda prospects are de-risked by a past well, up-dip, and its experienced geologists have undertaken extensive seismic reprocessing work and have acquired detailed data from the previous well.

"We are delighted to have nearly doubled our stake in the very large Sanda North and Sanda South prospects, which have the potential to add major value to the company,” said Tom Cross, Parkmead executive chairman.

“The West of Shetland is an area that we understand well, and this increased stake further builds on the strength of Parkmead's asset portfolio in the UK.”

Parkmead also pointed to upcoming exploration drilling in the North Sea, by Statoil, as a possible catalyst for its other assets. Statoil intends to drill the Verbier exploration well - which is part owned by AIM peer Jersey Oil & Gas Plc (LON:JOG) - this summer.

Verbier lies in the same play fairway as the company’s Polecat and Marten projects, and Parkmead highlights that the exploration target shares many similarities with the fields. It highlights that a discovery at Verbier could have the potential to considerably increase the value of nearby oil and gas assets, like Polecat and Marten.

Cross added: “We are pleased that high-impact exploration close to our acreage could add further regional value to Parkmead's assets, at no cost to our Company.

“The team at Parkmead is working intensively to evaluate and execute further value-adding opportunities in our core areas of the UK and Netherlands."

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