Upland Relinquishes Moray Firth License

London-listed oil company Upland Resources has, with partners, relinquished an offshore license in the UK sector of the North Sea.

Upland said Wednesday that it had relinquished Licence P2470 in the Inner Moray Firth. The license included blocks 11/23, 11/24c and 11/25b, surrounding the Wick Prospect in the Inner Moray Firth, on which Upland UK participated in the dry Wick Well (11/24b-4) at the beginning of 2019. The well was drilled using the Ensco-72 jack-up rig by the operator Corallian Energy

"These blocks were applied for before the results of 11/24b-4 were known and, although they contain the small Knockinnon oil discovery and several small prospects, they have been downgraded by the Wick well result," Upland said Wednesday.

Per Upland, the modest work commitment on the license consisted of a small volume of 3D seismic reprocessing, which has now been completed. 

"The results of such work were not encouraging, and the Licence was relinquished with effect from 31 March 2020," Upland said.

Chris Pitman, CEO of Upland Resources Limited, said: "The original application was made prior to the drilling of the Wick Prospect and following a post-drill review of the well, the remaining potential of the P2470 license has been downgraded. The relinquishment of P2470 is in line with our strategy of focussing solely on opportunities that will provide meaningful returns to our shareholders."