KINGSTON, Jamaica — United Oil & Gas Plc has identified potential thermogenic hydrocarbons in piston core samples from its Walton-Morant Licence offshore Jamaica, representing “an established body of evidence for an active petroleum system in Jamaica”.

The development was announced by the company in a statement on Wednesday to update on the analysis of piston core samples from its recently completed Seabed Geochemical Exploration (SGE) survey over the Walton-Morant Licence offshore Jamaica.

The information was also provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange, which is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a primary information provider in the United Kingdom.

United Oil and Gas Plc is the company with a high-impact exploration asset in Jamaica and a development asset in the UK.

According to the statement, the company has undertaken a geochemical analysis on the 42 piston cores acquired across the Walton-Morant Licence.

“The analysis has identified C4 and C5 hydrocarbons, including butanes and pentanes, in select piston cores within the headspace gas dataset,” United Oil & Gas said.

It noted that these higher order hydrocarbons are not typically associated with biogenic gas systems and are therefore consistent with a potential thermogenic contribution.

“There is an established body of evidence for an active petroleum system in Jamaica in general, and, on the licence in particular, including repeat satellite slick anomalies, thermogenic hydrocarbon geochemistry from existing onshore and offshore wells, onshore and offshore oil seeps, and onshore surface outcrops,” United pointed out.

“Furthermore, petroleum systems modelling suggests the presence of oil-mature source rocks,” it added.

The company explained, too, that, the 2026 SGE survey is the first on the licence to be optimally positioned using 3D seismic, multibeam echosounder (MBES) seabed mapping, and satellite-derived slick anomaly data.

“Taken together, the data are interpreted as consistent with an active petroleum system offshore Jamaica,” United declared boldly.

The data will be integrated into United’s geological understanding and risking models, as well as to support ongoing technical evaluation and farm-out discussions.

For his part, CEO of United Oil & Gas Plc, Brian Larkin, said the results enhance understanding of the Walton-Morant licence and support the company’s push towards a drilling decision.

“We have identified butane and pentane hydrocarbons in the analysis. These results enhance our understanding of the licence and provide an important input as we advance towards a drilling decision,” Larkin stated.

He said the company looks forward to integrating the results into its “subsurface work” as it continues to progress discussions with interested parties.

“We believe United’s technical evaluation of the licence’s potential will support our ongoing farm-out process as we work to advance this world-class licence which contains approximately 7 billion of prospective resources,” Larkin informed.

The company advised that Paul Ryan, who has over 20 years of relevant experience in the oil and gas industry, has reviewed and approved the information contained in the announcement.

Ryan is a qualified person as defined in the guidance note for Mining Oil & Gas Companies of the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the Geoscience Exploration Society of Great Britain (GESGB), the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).