United Oil & Gas and Quattro Energy Limited have agreed on a long stop date extension for the acquisition of United Oil & Gas' license in the Central North Sea, which includes the Maria discovery in the Outer Moray Firth Basin. Originally expected to be completed within 90 days, the deal was announced on January 17. However, after a delay in April, the completion date was set for May 17. Subsequently, another extension was agreed upon, giving Quattro more time until July 31. Despite the extensions, United Oil & Gas has revealed that all conditions under the asset purchase agreement have not been met by the expiry of the long stop date.

Due to this, the two companies have now agreed on a further extension to the long stop date, which is set to be September 30. A non-refundable deposit of $100,000 has been received from Quattro, and the schedule of consideration payments has been revised to support the Quattro funding process and increase the executability of the transaction. Under the revised payment terms, £1 million of the initial cash payment to United is now included in contingent bonus payments, resulting in £1.45 million. The additional £1.0 million payment upon approval of an FDP for Block 15/18e remains unchanged, along with contingent bonus payments of up to £3.25 million upon reaching production thresholds.

The discovery, which contains up to 17.7 million barrels of oil and gas, is located in the UK Central North Sea and was audited by Gaffney, Cline, and Associates. United Oil & Gas initially hoped to sell all of its Central North Sea assets to Quattro in a £3.2 million deal. However, the delays and revised payment terms have raised questions about Quattro's funding capabilities and the future viability of the development. Despite this, United Oil & Gas believes the sale to Quattro remains the best option at this time, considering available alternatives to deliver value to shareholders from the license.

The Maria discovery covers an area of approximately 225 km², close to existing infrastructure in the Central North Sea, including the Marigold and Yeoman discoveries, and the substantial Piper, MacCulloch, and Claymore oil fields. Originally discovered in 1976 by Shell/Esso, the Maria discovery within the Upper Palaeocene Forties Sandstone was previously considered commercially unviable.