United Oil secures access to ship
Published:Wednesday | October 15, 2025 | 12:06 AM
United Oil & Gas Plc on Thursday signed a deal that will give it access to ship for collecting oil samples offshore Jamaica, following moves by the oil explorer to raise another £2.33 million in funding.
“Securing the vessel agreement with TDI Brooks is a decisive move that takes United from preparation into execution,” said United Oil CEO Brian Larkin in a statement.
The company plans to collect samples from below the ocean floor, as part of its piston coring and geochemical survey.
It “will deliver vital new data to confirm the presence of hydrocarbons and materially de-risk the Walton-Morant Basin,” Larkin said.
The agreement ensures United can mobilise the vessel before year-end, aligning with a narrow operational window.
“Field operations are expected to last for two to three weeks, with completion anticipated within a short operational window and initial analytical results expected in late fourth quarter 2025 to early first quarter 2026,” said Larkin.
The planned programme will collect 40 to 60 seabed core samples, alongside other complementary data.
Larkin indicated that a successful survey could improve the prospects for oil at Colibri, its most promising area in the block, from 19 to 32 per cent, followed by Oriole, its second most promising area, from 13 to 21 per cent.
Meanwhile, United Oil intends to raise £2.33 million “through the proposed issue of a total of 1.55 billion shares of new ordinary shares of £0.00001 each”. The offer circular was issued on October 7.
United’s licence from the Jamaican Government has been extended to January 2028. It was initially set to expire in 2020 but was extended due to the pandemic, which led to a global business reset. It was extended again in 2022, with additional extensions thereafter.
The Walton-Morant basin spans some 22,400 square kilometres, all along the south of Jamaica. United Oil & Gas, holds a 100 per cent working interest in the licence.
The oil company has identified promising prospects through 2D and 3D seismic analysis. United Oil and independent third-party estimates put the reserves of substances resembling oil at 2.4 billion to 7.0 billion barrels offshore Jamaica.