Ukraine supreme court to rule on Enwell licence

Enwell Energy shares fell more than 10% after it said Ukraine's supreme court would consider an appeal by the previous owner of a licence to explore for gas.

The AIM-traded oil and gas company acquired the licence for the Svystunivsko-Chervonolutskyi site in March when it bought Arkona Gas-Energy. The 20-year licence covers 97 sq km in Ukraine's Poltava region in the Dnieper-Donets basin.

In July NJSC Ukrnafta claimed irregular procedures were followed when Arkona was awarded the licence in May 2017. Ukrnafta held a licence for Svystunivsko-Chervonolutskyi before a licence was granted to Arkona.

A first-instance court found in Ukrnafta's favour in July but this ruling was overturned by a higher court in September. The supreme court has now agreed to consider Ukrnafta's appeal against that judgment.

"This appeal will be heard by the supreme court in due course, and pending the hearing of this appeal, the licence remains valid," Enwell said.

Enwell shares fell 10.6% to 19.98p at 12:15 GMT.