Dnex’s Ping UK adds three licences to portfolio

PETALING JAYA: Dagang Nexchange Bhd’s (Dnex) subsidiary in the United Kingdom has added three new North Sea oilfield licences to its portfolio.

The unit, Ping UK, bagged two licences –the Glenn and Hutton fields – from the United Kingdom’s 33rd licencing round.

The third licence is for the Pilot development, which Ping UK secured after it completed the acquisition of an 81.25% stake in Pilot from Orcadian Energy

With this development, the acreage of its UK Continental Shelf portfolio increased to an excess of 100 million of barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) in the central North Sea.

Ping UK is fully owned by Ping Petroleum Ltd, in which Dnex indirectly owns a 90% equity interest.

In a statement yesterday, Ping Petroleum said the new UK licences will remain in the planning mode for the medium term, while the energy sector seeks further clarity in the coming months over the direction of a potential new fiscal environment.

Managing director Zainal Abidin Jalil said the company expects to “extract significant value” from the new licences at a low cost and very low emissions.

“These licences are likely to present technical obstacles which we are looking forward to tackling. In addition, the commercial challenges also have to be considered.

“Ping is the right kind of operator to find suitable solutions to both.

“We anticipate these projects will potentially come to first oil soon after the projected end of the Energy Profits Levy,” he said.

Zainal called the Glenn field a “stranded asset” that offers a chance to add value to its Avalon development by adding another reservoir.

Both the Glenn and Pilot oilfield developments are in the Central North Sea where Ping has experience in operating Anasuria and progressing its greenfield development Avalon and partnering on the Fyne field.

“Hutton provides a different challenge for us, as it is located in deeper water and a harsher environment.

“Further subsurface work needs to be completed prior to a high-level recovery concept being put forward,” stated Zainal.

Meanwhile, Ping’s Malaysian operation continues to progress its three licences with the first development expected to deliver first oil next year.