Hansa Hydrocarbons Limited (Hansa) is pleased to announce that the N05-1 exploration well drilled offshore Netherlands on its GEms licences, has been confirmed as a significant discovery encountering gas in the target basal Rotliegend sandstones. Hansa and its partners Oranje-Nassau Energie B.V. (ONE) and Energie Beheer Nederland B.V. (EBN, the Dutch State entity), further appraised the reservoir distribution and delineated the structure with a downdip geological side-track which also encountered gas. The reservoir interval was cored throughout and 24m of net sand was encountered with high permeability. This was confirmed by the DST in the vertical well which was flow tested at a maximum sustained flow rate of 53 million standard cubic feet per day, which was the limit of surface equipment. The results of the well exceeded pre-drill expectations.

The Ruby discovery extends across the N04, N05, N08 and Geldsackplate licences in the Dutch and German North Sea sectors respectively in a water depth of 28m. The N05-1 well was drilled as a joint well between the N05 and Geldsackplate licence groups, with Hansa participating at a 40% working interest. The well was operated by ONE and drilled with the Paragon Offshore Prospector-1 rig, which moved off location on 30th August 2017.

Hansa is operator of both the Dutch and German GEms licences, Blocks N04, N05, N8 and N07c in the Netherlands, with interests post-EBN participation of 25% to 30%, and the Geldsackplate licence in Germany with an interest of 50%.

John Martin, Hansa Hydrocarbon’s CEO, said: “The success of the Ruby discovery is of great significance for the company. Not only have we proved up a substantial volume but it also confirms the extent of the hitherto poorly understood basal Rotliegend sands in the offshore basin. We now look forward to progressing the commercialisation of Ruby and the appraisal of the adjacent prospects in order to realise the full potential of this exciting new play.

Hansa’s decision to pursue this play dates back to its entry into the German offshore with the drilling of the L01-2 well in 2010 which enabled the company to develop a geological model with the use of modern reprocessed 3D seismic. The N05-1 well has now validated this model and leads to a significant de-risking of the neighbouring prospectivity in the GEms, Geldsackplate and 4Quads (G18, H16, M03, N01) licences to the north.”

About Hansa Hydrocarbons

Hansa Hydrocarbons Limited is a full-cycle exploration and production company focused on the Southern North Sea, with interests across the UK, Danish, Dutch and German offshore sectors.

In particular, Hansa has built a unique licence position across the Dutch/German median line which has multi-tcf resource potential and lies close to major offshore gas transportation and processing infrastructure. The contiguous licence position incorporating both operated and non-operated acreage in Netherlands and Germany amounts to some 4489 km2.

Our company continues to actively pursue further opportunities to grow the business through acquisition, farm-in and licence applications. Founded in 2007, Hansa is led by an experienced London-based management team and is backed by Avista Capital Partners, a US based private equity firm with approximately $6 billion committed across its portfolio companies.