General Operations Update

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) 596/2014 AS IT FORMS PART OF UK DOMESTIC LAW BY VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018 ("MAR"), AND IS DISCLOSED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE COMPANY'S OBLIGATIONS UNDER ARTICLE 17 OF MAR.

7 a.m. 2 August 2021

Angus Energy Plc 

("Angus Energy", "Angus" or the "Company")

General Operations Update

Angus Energy plc (AIM: ANGS) is pleased to give an update on operations and planning at all of its hydrocarbon fields and its geothermal projects.

Saltfleetby Gas Field - PEDL 005 - 51% interest.  On track for re-commissioning in December 2021

Angus Energy continue preparing for the resumption of production operations in the Saltfleetby Gas Field. The process facility detailed design has resumed and is at an advanced stage. Long lead equipment has been ordered and bespoke processing units have been tendered. Several items of processing equipment are in fabrication. Design work leading to confirmation of all bulk materials is underway. 

Further detail on current activities include:

·      Two gas compressor packages are being fabricated by specialist engineers in Kent. Caterpillar gas engines and Ariel reciprocating compressor sections have been ordered and delivery confirmed. Bulk materials for the skid-mounted unit and process manifolds fabrication have been ordered. The first complete gas compressor package will be delivered to site in November.

·      Production process equipment for dehydration, dew point control, condensate stabilisation and fuel gas treatment have been designed by Hull based engineering group. Local UK fabricators have tendered for the build and their bids are under evaluation.

·      Process equipment including separators, storage tanks and enclosed ground flare system has been sourced as surplus equipment from a recently decommissioned site in the vicinity. The equipment will be recertified and slightly modified for use in the process facility. Re-purposing this equipment provides opportunity for schedule and budget savings.

·      Gas commercial sales meter and analyser skid is under fabrication in the UK and the Factory Acceptance Test of the complete package, including the remote communications link, is scheduled for September. Factory Assessment Test ("FAT") will be attended by representatives from the National Grid as well as Angus engineering team. Equipment will be delivered to site after FAT.

·      Power generation with Caterpillar gas engine using fuel gas from the production process has been ordered. Electrical switchgear is included in the order. Delivery to site is in October.  

·      Detailed design of the process facility continues with Aberdeen based engineering house. The facility design has been iterated to include final equipment selections and is being matured into the complete design package. Bulk materials are being specified for subsequent order. Civils and foundations designs are being progressed. Electrical and instrumentation design will resume from August. 

·      Construction activities will commence in August with limited groundwork and foundations preparation on this pre-developed site. In situ fabrication of flowlines will commence in September as well as installation of the ground flare. Other production equipment will be connected as individual skid packages arrive from the fabricators.

·      Permitting and planning is well advanced.  As regards the pipeline, our statutory Safety Case and Major Accident Prevention Document are in advanced stages of review by HSE.  The process plant will be dealt with by continuous assessment by local HSE Field Officers.  We are in continuous engagement with Environment Agency regarding the process plant.  All local authority planning permissions for both process plant and pipeline are in place.  OGA approval of Field Development Plan is also complete.

Saltfleetby Gas Field - Side Track and other assets

·      Rig tender and selection is already complete with tenders for associated equipment expected in the forthcoming week.

·      Target mobilisation of rig is slated for first week in October.  Should suppliers indicate potential delays, whether Covid-19 related or otherwise, the Board will consider a deferral of the side track until end of March 2022 if those delays would in any way cause consequent delay to commissioning of the process plant.  This would be to ensure that Angus and partners benefit from the very tight pricing environment indicated by UK National Balancing Point forward gas prices for January, February and March 2022. The Board will advise in due course should this become the case.

·      As regards planning and permitting, local authority approval was obtained last week.  An initial presentation has been made to HSE.  BSOR application to HSE will be made in mid August.  It is understood that the operation can be conducted under Angus' existing Environment Agency permit for this site.

·      Angus Energy contracted realtimeseismic.com to carry out the reprocessing of our Saltfleetby 3D seismic dataset which was originally acquired in 1997 over a total area of 79.92km².  This considerable reprocessing project was motivated by the perspective of using up-to-date techniques to improve the geological interpretability of the dataset.  The final deliverable was a depth model validated by the fields well data. A focused proportion of this reprocessed seismic is currently undergoing interpretation by the technical team in order to provide an accurate representation of the sub-surface to aid in the successful design and drilling of the SF7V side-track, the results of which will be announced when available. 

·      Over subsequent months a more complete re-interpretation will take place over the whole field and in particular over the southern satellite reservoir with the aim of shaping a field development programme to convert some of the 12 BCF of 1C (the low estimate of) contingent resources into 1P  (P90 or proven) reserves to supplement the existing 18 BCF of 1P reserves from the main Westphalian reservoir.

·      A technical note has been written in answer to a question on Angus Energy's investor Q&A website page.  The note details the history of drilling at the field over the last 25 years and our reasons for confidence about the forthcoming side track.  Please see

https://www.angusenergy.co.uk/media/investor-questions/

Lidsey Field - PEDL 241 - 80% interest

Seismic acquisition by Rees Onshore Seismic and Stryde is complete and reprocessing again by realtimeseismic.com is expected to be complete this week.  The survey will tie-in the existing seismic lines to define the subsurface structure.

Thereafter we are allowing until the middle of September for re-interpretation and discussion with our partners in this Licence before presenting to shareholders.  Should the new seismic, as adjusted for our revised depth conversion, continue to be as promising as presently expected, we would move to a planning application for a side track on this low impact site together with an amendment to our Field Development Plan and subsequently regulatory submissions to HSE.  We have confirmed with Environment Agency that the side-track can be drilled under our existing standard rules permit.

Given likely planning permission timetables a side track is unlikely to be carried out until we are into 2022.  Given our Licence holding is 80% we have some flexibility in terms of farming out some or all of the capital cost to third parties.

Brockham Field - PL235 - 80% interest

Environment Agency determination of our application to reinject water for reservoir management at Brockham is expected to be made during September.  If the determination is in favour of the application, a further period of consultation would follow, allowing for a variation of permit to be issued in late October or early November.  Additionally, Angus has begun to approach stakeholders, local and national, for consultation regarding an intervention in BRX4-Z.  This intervention would involve the abandonment of the Kimmeridge layer and re-perforation the Portland layer in order to benefit from pressure support from water injection.  The re-perforation itself would be a relatively low level intervention and would not require drilling, although this and the abandonment would require the presence of a rig for a brief period of time.  Any operation would be subject to approval of water injection by Environment Agency as well as traditional local authority and other regulatory approvals.

Balcombe Oil Field - PEDL 244 - 25% interest

The Company has had further discussions with West Sussex County Council and has indicated its intention to appeal the WSCC Planning Committee's decision to reject our application for a short well test against the Officers' recommendation to approve.  Angus will be making its appeal to the Planning Inspectorate and is presently preparing its statement of case.

George Lucan, CEO, writes:  "Angus remains focused on early near term cash flow from the re-start and expansion of the Saltfleetby Gas Field, taking advantage of the rally in gas prices and the tight gas supply in the market.  A separate update will be provided on Angus's Energy Transition projects in the coming days."

END.

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Notes

About Angus Energy plc

Angus Energy plc is a UK AIM quoted independent onshore Energy Transition company with a complementary portfolio of clean gas development assets, onshore geothermal projects, and legacy oil producing fields. Angus is focused on becoming a leading onshore UK diversified clean energy and energy infrastructure company.  Angus Energy has a 51% interest in the Saltfleetby Gas Field (PEDL005), majority owns and operates conventional oil production fields at Brockham (PL 235) and Lidsey (PL 241) and has a 25% interest in the Balcombe Licence (PEDL244).