SDX Energy Begins 12 Well Drilling Programme In Morocco

(Alliance News) - Oil & gas exploration firm SDX Energy PLC said Friday it began a 12 well drilling programme at the Gharb Basin project in Morocco.

SDX - which holds a 75% stake interest in Gharb - is targeting a mean 15 billion cubic feet of prospective resources from the drilling. The programme will begin with seven well at its core concessions of Sebou and Gharb Centre which are located near existing infrastructure.

The next two wells will be step-out exploration well from the Gharb Centre concession. These are higher risk, but are expected to have similar discovery prospects as those at Sebou and Gharb Centre sites.

The last three wells are higher-risk exploration wells at yet unproven Lalla Mimouna Nord concession.

"SDX is pleased to announce the start of its drilling campaign in Morocco," SDX Interim Chief Executive Officer & Chief Financial Officer Mark Reid said.

"The 12 wells have three key objectives," Reid added. "The first objective is to drill seven lower risk wells in our existing core producing area. These wells are close to existing infrastructure and will increase reserves for the continued supply of gas to our existing customers.

"Our second objective is to drill two step-out exploration wells to the north of our core production area which, if successful, would open up new, target-rich acreage for future drilling," Reid continued.

"The final objective of the campaign is to test larger but higher-risk prospects in the Lalla Mimouna Nord concession," Redi said. "To do this, we plan to drill up to three wells, however, if the first well does not meet our expectations, we may move the rig back to our core producing area and complete the campaign by drilling two further lower-risk, but smaller, prospects to add additional reserves."

"We expect the campaign to complete in Q1 2020 and we look forward to updating the market on progress in due course," Reid concluded.

Shares in SDX Energy were 2.7% higher at 22.60 pence in London on Friday.

By Ahren Lester; ahrenlester@alliancenews.com

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