Mixed appetite for UKCS farm-outs

Deltic reports progress but will also relinquish two licences after failed processes

AIM-listed E&P firm Deltic Energy is moving forward with the UK continental shelf (UKCS) gas prospects it has successfully farmed out to Shell and peer Capricorn Energy, as well as getting ready to launch a partner search for its Syros oil prospect. But the firm will also hand back two licences, one operated and one non-operated, after failing to agree terms for them to be drilled. Spudding of the firm’s Southern North Sea (SNS) Pensacola prospect in licence P2252, in which Shell took a 70pc stake in February 2019, has slipped slightly from September to October. But the firm remains upbeat. It will be using the Maersk Resilient jack-up rig, which is currently drilling a production well f