Offshore staff

CALGARY -- Antrim Energy has agreed to sell a 30% interest in its Causeway development in the UK northern North Sea to Valiant Petroleum.

Under a conditional letter agreement, Antrim will receive a $21.75 million contribution towards Causeway’s development costs. It will also transfer related tax losses to Valiant, along with operatorship of the field, subject to approvals from partners and the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

As new operator, Valiant would submit a revised field development plan to DECC later this year. Assuming all goes to plan, Antrim would retain a 35% interest in the project.

Antrim plans to focus on what it considers its core UK North Sea asset, the Fyne area in central block 21/28a. The Fyne field holds an estimated 21 MMbbl of proven plus probable reserves, and Antrim also has a 100% interest in three adjacent licenses comprising the Greater Fyne Area.

It is currently in discussions with FPSO providers and offshore infrastructures owners in the area in order to determine the optimum production export route for the Fyne field.

Antrim has completed an FPSO pre-qualification process, and engineering studies are under way into an alternative subsea tieback to nearby platform facilities. Under the current plan, the production system would be able to handle up to 20,000 b/d of oil from Fyne, and potentially further volumes from satellite fields.

The company hopes to submit its development plan this year, and it is also working to mature drilling prospects on its nearby licenses. It says these contain best-estimate recoverable resources of 54.9 MMbbl.

3/8/2010