The acquisition includes three production licences and three exploration licences, which hold valuable reserves, provide scope for immediate production, and have further exploration potential to strengthen Europe’s energy security
MCF Energy to buy oil and gas assets in the Czech Republic. (Credit: Mihai on Unsplash)
Canada-based MCF Energy has agreed to acquire oil and gas production and exploration licences in the Vienna Basin of Czechia, within the Carpathian Mountains, Czech Republic.
The acquisition includes three production licences covering 6,880 acres (27.8km2), and three exploration licences covering 42,551.5 acres (172.2km2).
The licences are said to hold valuable reserves, provide scope for immediate production, and have further exploration potential to bolster Europe’s energy security.
With two proven and productive targets, the Miocene sands and Devonian carbonates, the licences hold significant untested potential in the oil-productive fractured basement.
Under the terms of the acquisition, MCF Energy will gain full ownership of the Czech licences, in exchange for 17.5 million shares, with resale limits, and a cash payment of $1.3m.
In addition, the company will issue 350,000 shares to Fiore Management & Advisory for its 7advisory services, which shares are subject to a four-month hold period from closing.
Upon closing, the Czech assets will become a part of MCF Energy Czechia, a subsidiary of MCF Energy.
MCF Energy CEO and director James Hill said: “This acquisition was driven by the opportunity to quickly start natural gas production by reopening three closed wells and using fifteen ready-to-drill sites in the NT Ridge area.
“The main advantage of this project is the potential to boost production by shallow, low-cost drilling of nearby areas with available pipeline capacity.”
The production licences include NT Ridge spanning 2,800 acres (11.3km2), Krasna NP-823 covering 497 acres (11.3km2), and LM covering 3,583 acres (14.5km2).
The exploration licences are Skalice-Ropice covering 11,712.8 acres (47.4km2), Moravka covering 14,801.6 acres (59.9km2), and Trinec spanning 16,037.1 acres (61.9km2).
MCF Energy plans to restart production at an NT Ridge well, which is located about 28km southeast of Ostrava and currently shut-in, in the first quarter of 2024.
The company plans to drill five additional development locations at NT Ridge and one proven undeveloped drilling location this year, with at least three additional locations in 2025.
Currently, the company is reviewing the Krasna NP 823 and the LM production licences. Both have wells that could be reworked and returned to production at low investment, said the company.
MCF Energy aims to continue the previous exploration work, with plans to develop the Skalice-Ropice licence by drilling four wells in 2025, five wells in 2026, and one in 2027.