United Oil & Gas has secured crucial environmental permits and a beach licence for its offshore exploration activities in Jamaica, clearing the way for the next phase of technical work at the Walton-Morant basins.

The move comes just days after the company intensified efforts to attract investors to Jamaica’s offshore oil sector, unveiling new technical evidence that could significantly improve the odds of a major discovery at its Walton-Morant licence.

The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) has given United Oil & Gas Jamaica Limited two important approvals for its work in the Walton and Morant Basins. The first is an environmental permit, which allows the company to set up equipment and look for non-renewable resources like oil and gas in these offshore areas. The second is a beach licence, which lets them carry out surveys to map the sea floor, test the ground, and collect information about the environment.

These approvals were officially granted at a board meeting a week ago on June 17, 2025. They are very important because United Oil & Gas needed this permission before it could start its planned “piston core sampling”— a process where samples are taken from the seabed to check for signs of oil and gas. This is a key step to help the company better understand the area and reduce the risks before drilling, making it more likely to find oil or gas in the future.

Technical Advances Drive Investor Push

The Walton-Morant licence, spanning 22,400 square kilometres off Jamaica’s southern coast — slightly smaller than Haiti but twice as large as Jamaica — is described by United as a “world-class exploration licence” with “globally significant prospective resource potential”. More than seven billion barrels of mean prospective resources have been identified across dozens of mapped prospects and leads, with the company’s arithmetic sum based on unrisked mid-case estimates.

What sets this latest update apart is its focus on quantifying and reducing exploration risk. United’s technical work has already brought the chance of success at its flagship Colibri prospect to 19 per cent, meaning that about one in five wells drilled could yield oil. With the completion of planned technical steps — most notably a seabed piston coring survey and advanced seismic reprocessing — the company believes this could rise to 34 per cent, or roughly one in three, a notable improvement for frontier oil exploration, especially given that it costs between US$30 million to US$50 million to drill a single well.

What’s Behind the Rising Odds?

The technical presentation builds on previously shared investor materials but now offers “a more geoscientifically led perspective, providing added insight into the extensive technical de-risking undertaken by the company across the block”. This includes:

Comprehensive Data Collection: Around US$40 million has been invested since 2014 in modern 2D and 3D seismic surveys, as well as drilling 11 wells — all of which encountered hydrocarbons, a sign that oil and gas are indeed present in the area.

Evidence for a Working Petroleum System: United presents “compelling evidence for all the elements of an active petroleum system in Jamaica”, including regionally significant source rocks, numerous oil and gas seeps, and seismic evidence of hydrocarbon migration. All historical wells have shown hydrocarbon “shows”, and geochemical analysis confirms the presence of oil-generating rocks similar to those in other successful Caribbean basins.

Reservoirs and Traps: Multiple reservoir rocks, such as ancient limestones and sandstones, and effective seals — layers that trap oil underground — have been identified through seismic imaging and outcrop studies. The company’s 3D seismic data, acquired in 2018, has been called a “game-changer in terms of image quality, clarity and geophysical attributes”, allowing for more precise mapping of potential oil traps.

Spotlight on Colibri and Surrounding Prospects

The Colibri prospect in the Walton Basin is the immediate focus for drilling. It is mapped as a large, porous limestone structure, sealed by thick shales, and shows a “prominent low velocity anomaly evident on 3D seismic across Colibri which conforms with structure” — a technical sign that the rocks could hold oil and that the trap is intact.

Colibri alone is estimated to hold 406 million barrels of mean prospective resources. Other nearby prospects, such as Oriole and Streamertail, each add over 200 million barrels in potential, with seismic data revealing “prominent bright, soft amplitude anomaly at Oriole with fan-like geometry,” a signal often associated with hydrocarbons.

Further afield, the Morant Basin offers additional upside, with leads such as Thunderball (603 million barrels), Moonraker (323 million barrels), and Blofeld (171 million barrels) mapped using vintage and modern seismic data.

The Value of Forward-Looking Technical Work

Historically, Jamaica’s oil exploration has been hampered by limited and poor-quality data, in addition to wells drilled in less promising locations. With the newly granted permits, United Oil & Gas can now proceed with its planned piston coring survey — collecting 40 to 60 seabed sediment samples from targeted locations in the Walton and Morant basins. These samples will be analysed for geochemical evidence of hydrocarbons, directly testing whether oil is leaking from the subsurface into the seabed. It’s a move the company is undertaking “to further substantially de-risk the presence of an active petroleum system in the offshore basins,” the company said in its pitch for investors.

If the piston core survey yields positive results, United will move to reprocess its seismic data using the latest technology.

“Recent technological advances could significantly improve the quality of the subsurface imaging of the 3D acquired in 2018,” the company noted indicating that the aim is to give better data to prospective investors.

Attracting Partners: The Farm-out Push

With the technical case strengthened and regulatory hurdles cleared, United is intensifying its search for a partner to help fund drilling. The company notes that “momentum behind the farm-out process remains strong, with several parties currently under NDA.” Jamaica’s Government has extended the licence to January 2028 and maintains a policy of supporting investment, while fiscal terms remain favourable for new entrants.

Next Steps: From Permit to Drill

The environmental and beach licences are not just bureaucratic milestones — they are the gateway to the most critical phase of United’s exploration programme. Piston core sampling and baseline surveys will provide direct evidence of hydrocarbon presence and help refine drilling targets, giving investors and potential partners greater confidence in the project’s prospects.