i3 Energy farms out 25pc block interest to Europa Oil

The AIM-traded firm said that under the agreement, Europa would fund 46.25% of the cost of the upcoming Serenity appraisal well up to a gross capped well cost of £15m.

Any well costs above that would be funded by the two companies in proportion to their respective working interests.

Following the farm-out, i3 retained a 75% working interest in the block and a 100% interest in block 13/23c South on the same licence, which contains the Minos High prospect and the Liberator discovery

“We are delighted to have successfully completed the farm-out agreement for Serenity and to welcome Europa as our joint venture partner in the discovery,” said chief executive officer Majid Shafiq.

“The next significant step is to drill the appraisal well, which is on track for spud in September.

“The well will help us delineate the size of the field and provide the critical information required to formulate an effective development plan for a potentially very large oil field.”

At 1230 BST, shares in i3 Energy were up 1.69% at 29.95p.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.