RockRose Snaps up North Sea Gas Field
London-listed player RockRose Energy has agreed to buy an undeveloped gas field in the southern North Sea, it said on February 4.
The company reported signing a sales and purchase agreement to acquire 100% of Speedwell Energy, operator of the Cotton gas field, for a “limited initial consideration." It will pay a larger sum after the project reaches a final investment decision.
The deal is subject to standard regulatory approvals.
Cotton was discovered 100 km east of Scarborough in 2009, when a well struck a 97bn ft3 recoverable gas accumulation. RockRose estimates that the field could flow up to 70mn ft3/day, using two horizontal wells.
Speedwell, which acquired Cotton in a licensing round in 2017, has prepared a field development plan for submission to the UK’s Oil and Gas Authority (OGA). It has also discussed the project with contractors and the owners of export infrastructure.
RockRose said it would carry out further studies before greenlighting development to ensure the project’s economics are robust, particularly given current weak gas prices.
"This acquisition gives RockRose the option of a significant amount of production and reserves in an area of the southern North Sea gas basin in which we already have other producing assets,” RockRose chairman Andrew Austin commented. “We look forward to carrying out further evaluation of the discovery prior to committing to FID.”
Cotton lies in between the Kilmar and Garrow fields, in which RockRose has 15% stakes.