Achi news desk-
The company said it has also engaged significantly with companies interested in buying acreage off Scotland, which it believes could contain millions of barrels of oil.
Deltic is increasingly confident about the potential of the Syros prospects after completing seismic survey work on the license in question.
With Syros now “ready for practice”, Deltic aims to secure a deal by the end of the year with a partner who could help finance work on it.
Such an agreement would further justify the company’s decision to launch an exploration campaign in the North Sea amid the collapse that began in 2014 after growth in supplies ran ahead of demand.
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Deltic’s directors are confident that the company’s North Sea campaign could mean it finds enough oil and gas to make a key contribution to the energy security campaign in the UK.
However, the company said the sector faces major challenges given the current political environment.
Chief executive Graham Swindells complained that companies have faced uncertainty since the introduction of the windfall tax in 2022, such as the Energy Profit Levy (EPL). He said directors feared life could get tougher amid concern threatened tax changes could scare investors off North Sea projects.
Labor has proposed increasing the rate of tax on windfalls and removing the investment allowance introduced alongside it.
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Mr Swindells warned: “While the EPL creates instability for UK operators, however, the investment allowance currently in place continues to make investing in tax-reduced Deltic projects more attractive .”
Deltic turned heads in February when it successfully acquired Pensacola with Shell. Subsequent testing proved Pensacola to be one of the most significant discoveries in the North Sea for many years.
Deltic and Shell plan to drill an appraisal well on Pensacola later this year. They also plan to drill an exploratory well on the Selene prospect with Dana Petroleum, which bought into the acreage in February. Dana is owned by Korea National Oil Corporation.
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Deltic has used modern technology to identify opportunities in areas where others had underestimated their potential.
He expects to be able to work on the brightest prospects sufficiently to persuade bigger fish to cover most of the costs of drilling them.
