Deltic rides out the storm

The UKCS explorer’s strong balance sheet allows it to brush off many of the challenges posed by the oil price collapse, but it is still not immune to bearish investor sentiment

It has been a busy 12 months for Deltic Energy, not least with the introduction of a new name for the UK Aim-listed firm formerly known as Cluff Natural Resources.   In August last year, it secured approval from the country’s Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) to complete the farm-out of a 50pc stake in its UK continental shelf (UKCS) P2437 licence, containing the Selene prospect, to Shell. This marked the second sale of a stake to the major in less than three months, after it sold 70pc in the Pensacola prospect to Shell at the end of May 2019. But this year’s oil and gas price plunges and Covid-19 pandemic have made life harder—both commercially and operationally—even for a firm at the pre-product