United Oil commissions drill study as farm-out deadline nears

London-listed United Oil & Gas Plc has commissioned a study of offshore drilling rig-availability and costs for its Walton-Morant licence off southern Jamaica, the company said in filings.

“This drilling study marks an important step in our operational planning to advance the Walton-Morant licence towards a potential future drilling programme. It will provide a current, market-based assessment of rig suitability, availability, commercial conditions, and the long-lead items required to drill Colibri and Thunderball or similar targets,” stated United’s new chief operating officer Donal Meehan in a statement.

The company said on Thursday it appointed NRG Well Management to assess rig suitability, indicative market day rates, mobilisation requirements, long-lead equipment and procurement schedules for a potential exploration campaign. NRG will approach international rig contractors and supply-chain vendors directly. UK-based NRG Well Management has provided well engineering and project management services since 2007.

Colibri and Thunderball sit at very different depths. Colibri lies in about 750 metres of water and holds gross unrisked mean prospective resources of 406 million barrels. The Thunderball lead sits in roughly 1,900 metres with 603 million barrels. Together they account for more than a billion barrels of the roughly 7 billion barrels of unrisked mean prospective resources United has identified across the 22,400-square-kilometre block.

United stressed that commissioning the study does not commit it to drilling. Any well would require regulatory approvals from Jamaica and completed commercial agreements. The study is expected to finish within weeks, and the company said the findings will support its farm-out discussions.

United holds a 100 per cent interest in Walton-Morant and has long said a partner is needed before a well can be drilled. In a farm-out, a licence holder gives up part of its ownership in exchange for another company funding the work. United said in a June investor update that it was targeting an agreement this year, on terms covering its back costs and the full cost of the next work programme, with several parties engaged under confidentiality agreements.

United reported a loss after tax of US$1.25 million for 2025, narrowed from US$2.4 million a year earlier, and closed the year with US$1.7 million in cash – a fraction of what a deepwater exploration well costs.

The rig study follows the promotion on Monday of Meehan, previously head of commercial, to chief operating officer in a non-board role. United’s shares rose more than 26 per cent to 0.215 pence on that announcement. Meehan said at the time that his immediate focus would be advancing the farm-out, ensuring operational readiness, and moving the licence into its next phase. He spent more than two decades in upstream oil and gas, starting at ExxonMobil before joining Providence Resources, and holds a first-class honours degree in chemical engineering from University College Dublin.

Chief Executive Officer Brian Larkin said the appointment came at an important time as the company pushed to conclude the Jamaican farm-out.

Nothing has been drilled in the licence. United has confirmed it has sunk no wells there and made no discovery. Roughly 11 exploration wells have been drilled in Jamaica since the 1850s, two of them offshore, and none tested the prospects now being marketed, according to materials from Envoi, the firm United engaged to find a partner.

Part of the pitch rests on a seabed survey completed earlier this year, which detected butane and pentane hydrocarbons in core samples from parts of the licence. An independent risking study in 2025 found that the results improved the estimated chance of exploration success at Colibri from one-in-five to one-in-three.

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