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Hurricane Energy - GWA farm-in accelerates resource monetisation

Hurricane Energy recently farmed out 50% of its Lincoln and Warwick licences covering the Greater Warwick Area (GWA) to Spirit Energy. This transaction is intended to accelerate the de-risking and monetisation of GWA, adding a new leg to the Hurricane business model running in parallel with the development of the Greater Lancaster Area (GLA). Under the terms of the farm-in, Hurricane will retain a 50% working interest in GWA licences in return for a net carry of $137.2m through a two-phase initial work programme and $150–250m contingent carry on net GWA full field development (FFD) expense. We update our valuation to reflect the terms of the Spirit Energy farm-in, driving our RENAV from 81.0p/share to 102.8p/share (+26.9%). We believe the transaction materially accelerates the de-risking of Hurricane’s Rona Ridge asset base, both in terms of GWA resource and the ability to focus Lancaster EPS cash flows on fast-track appraisal of the GLA resource base. Key valuation uncertainties include resource recovery from the GLA and GWA FFDs – we expect reserve and resource estimates to tighten on the back of further appraisal and EPS performance.