News reported elsewhere #15 Mar 2024 14:51
SDX Energy has been awarded the onshore Beni Malek Sud-Est production licence, as a carve-out from the company's Rharb Occidental licence, located in the onshore Gharb Basin. The 0.84 sq km block is valid for an initial two-year term, as the company looks to bring the Beni Malek Field online, followed by a 25-year production phase and a 10-year extension option. The discovery was made in the north of Rharb Occidental back in early 2020, with the Beni Malek 1z NFW (1,551 m TD) encountering gas in the Miocene-aged Upper and Lower Gebbas sandstones. Estimated recoverable resources are 0.9 Bcf. The field will be tied-back to the company's other gas fields and infrastructure in the Basin, with a c.10 km pipeline likely required.
Beni Malek Sud-Est is the third production licence to be carved out from Rharb Occidental inside a year, with Gaddari Sud Ouest and Sidi Al Harati Sud awarded in early 2023. The original 1,343 sq km Rharb Occidental exploration permit was awarded to SDX in 2017. Since then, the company has drilled nine exploration/appraisal wells, with six commercially viable. More recently, the junior outfit has undertaken a strategic review and is doubling down on its investment in Morocco, with an ambitious aim to become a 'hybrid energy player'; essentially an expansion into renewables, synergising with its core gas assets. The company operates Beni Malek Sud-Est with 75% equity, in partnership with ONHYM (25%).