Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc, the UK and Ireland focused oil and gas exploration, development and production company, announces that it has been notified by the Head of Estates at the Forestry Commission that the Minister for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has decided not to renew the lease at Bury Hill Wood, Coldharbour Lane, Surrey.  Bury Hill Wood is the proposed site for a temporary exploration well to test the conventional Holmwood prospect on licence PEDL 143 in the Weald Basin, Surrey. The lease expires on 12 September 2018.

Following the Minister's decision, the Company, on behalf of its partners, will be withdrawing its planning application to drill the Holmwood prospect from the Bury Hill Wood site.

PEDL 143 has recently been extended until 30 September 2020, and in addition to the established Portland sandstone reservoir, contains the Kimmeridge Limestone which, following success at the nearby Horse Hill discovery, is an emerging play in the Weald Basin.  The Company, with its partners, intends to undertake a full evaluation of alternative sites from which to target the Holmwood prospect, and other plays in the licence.  Europa Oil & Gas Limited is operator of PEDL 143 with a 20% interest.

Europa's CEO, Hugh Mackay, comments: “The Minister's decision not to renew the lease at Bury Hill Wood is disappointing, however, we intend to continue to work closely with our partners to determine how best to take the licence forward.  As well as PEDL143, Europa holds a multistage portfolio of licences which includes production and appraisal projects onshore UK and an industry leading licence position in the Irish Atlantic Margin.  Various work streams are underway across our asset base to advance all our licences and in the process expose our shareholders to high impact drilling activity. With this in mind, I look forward to providing further updates on our progress.” 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR"). Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service ("RIS"), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.