United Oil and Gas plc (UOG) will place more focus on its Jamaican exploration as it completes a pull-out from its joint venture in Egypt.

“The company has successfully completed all the paperwork to fully withdraw from its 22 per cent stake in the Abu Sennan Concession effective 1 January 2024. Completion of this withdrawal remains contingent on obtaining formal approvals from the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (“EGPC”) and the Minister for the Deed of Assignment which should be received in due course,” UOG said in an update on its website.

The United Kingdom-headquartered oil and gas exploration company is due to receive US$640,000 following the settlement with its partners in Egypt – Kuwait Energy Egypt Limited (“Kuwait Energy”) and Global Connect Ltd.

UOG continues to engage with EGPC to recover outstanding amounts, it said, adding that the withdrawal from Egypt allows the company to “fully concentrate on advancing its core projects, particularly the Jamaican work programme and ongoing farmout process”.

The company has a Government of Jamaica-issued licence to explore the 22,400km² Walton-Morant basin in Jamaica’s southern shores. So far, UOG estimates approximately 7 billion barrels of unrisked resources across 21 prospects and leads, each containing more than 100 million barrels of oil potential.

According to Gaffney Cline and Associates Prospective Resources Report, 11 of those prospects and leads are highly graded with over 2.4 billion barrels of recoverable unrisked mean prospective resources potential. The Colibri prospect/lead is estimated to have 406 million barrels and the Thunderball prospect/lead has an estimated 603 million barrels.

Chief Executive Officer Brian Larkin said the company was pleased to have reached an agreement with Kuwait Energy and Global Connect to withdraw from the Abu Senna concession.

“Our continued discussions with EGPC regarding to the outstanding receivables are also encouraging, and we expect resolution shortly. We wish our former joint venture partners all the best in their future endeavours,” Larkin shared in the update.

“We can now focus our efforts on growth opportunities, particularly in Jamaica. Our farmout discussions are progressing well, and our team is making excellent headway with selected parties. We look forward to providing further updates to shareholders shortly,” he added.