Malaysian oil and gas company Hibiscus Petroleum has received approval from the UK oil and gas regulator to acquire a stake in Licence P2451 in the UK North Sea from Rapid Oil Production.

Earlier this year, Hibiscus Petroleum's subsidiary, Anasuria Hibiscus, and Ping Petroleum signed a separate but identical farm-in agreement with Rapid Oil relating to Licence P2451.

The deal has now been approved by the UK North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), subject to certain conditions.

One of the conditions is that the parties formalise the legal transfer of the stake from Rapid Oil to Anasuria Hibiscus through the execution of the Deed of Assignment in a NSTA-approved form.

Other conditions include the approval of the proposed acquisition to be completed by 9 January 2024 and the NSTA to be notified of the completion of the proposed acquisition within two weeks.

As per the terms of each agreement, Anasuria Hibiscus and Ping Petroleum agreed to separately acquire a 42.5% stake each in the license.

Upon completion of the deal, Rapid Oil will hold a 15% stake in the licence, which comprises the Fyne field.

As per the estimates, the undeveloped Fyne field holds 75 million barrels of oil equivalent STOOIP (stock tank oil initially in place).

Scheduled to start production in 2026, the field is located around 16km from the Anasuria floating production storage and offloading vessel.

In a press statement, Hibiscus Petroleum earlier said: “The Fyne Field has a water depth of about 90m. As it is approximately 16kms from the Anasuria Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, the plan is to initially tie-back a single well development to the FPSO vessel. 

“The addition of the Fyne Field is expected to increase the value and extend the field life of the existing Anasuria Cluster of assets.”