MOL with its partners Premier Oil and Cairn Energy received approval by the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change for the Field Development Plan of the Catcher area

• MOL Group’s Catcher asset moves into execution phase
• MOL possesses a 20% non-operated stake in the Catcher Area project
• Catcher part of portfolio of North Sea offshore assets acquired from Wintershall
• First oil targeted for mid-2017

BUDAPEST, Hungary, 17-6-2014 — /EuropaWire/ — MOL – with its partners Premier Oil and Cairn Energy – has received approval for the Field Development Plan of the Catcher area. Expected production from Catcher is 96 million barrels of oil equivalent, with a peak production rate of around 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

MOL Group welcomes the approval of the Catcher area Field Development Plan (FDP) by the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). The Premier-operated Catcher area, located in the UK Central North Sea, is expected to produce 96 million barrels of oil equivalent with a peak production rate of around 50,000 barrels of oil per day.

Michael Fallon, Minister of State for Energy, commented: “The Catcher area development shows that there continues to be an extraordinary level of interest in North Sea oil and gas, which is excellent news for industry and for the whole of the UK. The project represents over £1bn of investment and almost all of the subsea expertise and equipment needed for this development is being supplied by British companies right across the country.”

MOL Group will be partnering Premier in the development of Catcher, which will entail the drilling of 22 subsea wells (14 producers and 8 water injectors) on the Catcher, Varadero and Burgman fields. These wells will be tied back to a leased floating production storage and offloading unit. The oil will be offloaded by tankers while the gas will be exported through the Segal facilities.

MOL’s 20% equity stake in Catcher is part of a portfolio of North Sea offshore assets acquired from Wintershall, in a deal which closed in March 2014.

“Having Catcher Field Development approval is a milestone in our North Sea strategy which contributes to our growth strategy in the region. With the FDP in place the development of the field now moves into the execution phase, and during this phase we look forward to close cooperation with our partners, Premier Oil and Cairn Energy. This region is of growing importance for MOL; we have also submitted a bid for licences in the UK Government’s 28th offshore round of oil and gas licensing, and we look forward to a successful outcome of our submission.”- said Alexander Dodds, Executive Vice-President, Exploration and Production, MOL Group.

All key service contracts for Catcher have been awarded and the project is now in the execution phase. First oil is targeted for mid-2017.

“Having discovered Catcher in 2010, we are extremely pleased to have brought the Catcher area through the development approval process. Once on-stream this project, which has been facilitated by the government’s small field allowances, will underpin our growing cash flows.” – added Simon Lockett, Chief Executive Officer of Premier Oil.

About MOL Group
MOL Group is an integrated, independent, international oil and gas company, headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. It has operations in over 40 countries and employs almost 29,000 people worldwide. MOL’s exploration and production activities are supported by more than 75 years’ experience in the hydrocarbon field. At the moment, there are production activities in 8 countries and exploration assets in 13 countries. The Group operates four refineries and two petrochemicals plants, under integrated supply chain management, in Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia. MOL Group also owns a network of over 1,700 service stations across 11 countries in Central & South Eastern Europe.

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