History

Nautical Petroleum plc was listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in April 2005. The Nautical idea was originated by the Masefield Group, a specialised energy trading company, who created International Energy Group AG (IEG) in 2004, to hold their asset based business interests.

An active programme resulted in the acquisition of two licenses in the UKCS and specialised heavy crude oil production processing equipment utilised for the successful Extended Well Test programme undertaken on the Mariner oil field by ChevronTexaco in 1997/1998.

All asset based interests acquired in this programme were transferred into IEG during 2004.

Subsequently a 75% interest in Nautical Petroleum AG, a subsidiary of IEG and the owner of licences 9/2b (Kraken) and 3/27a (Hydra), was transferred into Nautical Holdings Limited. This entity participated in the Reverse Takeover (RTO) in April 2005 which created Nautical Petroleum plc as a listed entity on AIM.

In July 2005, Nautical raised £8 million in a private placing. These funds were primarily used to acquire Alba Resources (Holdings) Limited in August 2005, which held a 26.67% interest in the 9/11a (Mariner) discovery and operatorship of 2 exploration blocks, 9/11c (Mermaid) and 8/25a (Selkie).

In December 2005 Nautical signed an agreement to farm in to the St Laurent licence for a 22% interest, which contains the Grenade undeveloped onshore heavy oil field in South West France. The same month saw Nautical awarded 3 new blocks in the 23rd Licensing Round, including 8/5 & 9/1 (Scylla).

In January 2006 the Nautical £10 million in a private placing to fund future drilling.  In June 2006 Nautical signed a comprehensive multi-licence farm-out agreement with Celtic Oil Ltd, part of the SK Corporation, Asia’s leading energy and petrochemical company. Celtic agreed to carry part of Nautical’s exploration expenditures on four blocks, primarily with regard to the drilling of wells in 2007 and 2008.

In February 2007, success in the UKCS 24th round resulted in 4 licences (3 Traditional and 1 Promote), comprising 7 blocks and part blocks, including 14/30a (Tudor Rose), 113/29 & 113/30 (Merrow) and 28/9 & 28/10c (Catcher).

September 2007 saw the successful farmout of 9/11c (Mermaid) to Silverstone.

In October 2007, Nautical successfully raised £20 million via a private placing and secured a £7.5 million bank facility with the Bank of Scotland (HBOS). 25% of 9/2b (Kraken) was farmed out to Canamens Energy North Sea Limited (Canamens), prior to the very successful drilling of the 9/2b-2 well.  In the same month Statoil-Hydro, an expert Heavy Oil operator with significant experience interpreting Heimdal reservoirs, became operator of the 9/11a, replacing Chevron and re-energising the Mariner discovery project.

Some disappointing drilling results occurred between November 2007 and October 2008, however Nautical’s exposure was minimised due to the highly successful farmout arrangements entered into, which included the completion of farmouts on 8/25a (Selkie) and 3/27a (Hydra) with Canamens in September 2008. 

2009, the year coinciding with the global banking crisis, was a quiet period, however technical studies continued across the portfolio, with the main emphasis being on Kraken and Mariner.

The Company enjoyed significant success in June 2010 with the announcement of the Catcher and Catcher East light oil discoveries.  The discoveries proved to be a transformational event for the business, resulting in a considerable growth in the Company’s market capitalisation. 

Following the success of the Catcher discoveries Nautical raised an additional £30 million in a private institutional placing.  In addition to the primary placing, a secondary placing of £16.5 million was undertaken which resulting in IEG’s ownership in the Company reduce from 27.5% to approximately 5%, effectively ending the long association with IEG.  The placings were a significant step forward for the business, resulting in a significantly improved and stronger institutional shareholder base.

In September 2010 the company drilled the successful 9/02b-4 well and 9/02b-4z sidetrack on Kraken, confirming the extension of the accumulation to the south and west of the field and proving the existence of hydrocarbon west of the Kraken fault.  The same month saw Nautical sign a sale and purchase agreement for the sale of a 20.667% interest in Block 9/11a (Mariner) in return for £87.5 million plus a maximum £3m carry of Nautical’s cost through to final investment decision.

Further success followed in January 2011, with the announcement of the Varadero oil discovery on Block 28/9.