2 Sep 2009 07:00
02 September 2009
Circle Oil Plc
("Circle" or the "Company")
Commencement of Oil Production from Al-Amir SE-3 and Geyad-1 Wells,
NW Gemsa Concession, Egypt
Circle Oil Plc (AIM: COP), the international oil and gas exploration and development company, is pleased to announce that both the Al-Amir SE-3 appraisal well and the Geyad-1 discovery well in the NW Gemsa Concession, Egypt, have been connected to pipeline infrastructure by the operator Vegas Oil and Gas and have commenced commercial oil production.
Circle is also delighted to confirm that average gross daily oil production from the four producing wells* on the NW Gemsa Concession has now reached approximately 4,300 - 4,350 bopd following an initial
production period from the two new wells.
The rig, Mubarak-1, is now drilling the Al-Amir SE-4 appraisal well and results will be communicated to the market in due course.
The NW Gemsa concession covers an area of over 260 square kilometres and lies about 300 kilometres southeast of Cairo, in a partially unexplored area of the Gulf of Suez Basin. The concession agreement includes the right of conversion to a production licence of 20 years, plus extensions, in the event of commercial discoveries. The NW Gemsa Concession partners are Vegas Oil and Gas (50% interest and operator), Circle Oil plc (40% interest) and Premier Oil (10% interest). The producing wells are located within development leases, valid for a 20 year period and separately delineated within the NW Gemsa Concession area.
*Al-Amir SE-1, Al-Amir SE-2, Al-Amir SE-3 and Geyad-1
Commenting on this latest discovery, David Hough, CEO of Circle, said:
"We are obviously delighted with the successful tie-in of these two additional producing wells on our NW Gemsa interest, which effectively doubles Circle's Egyptian oil production. We look forward to further increases in production from our continuing appraisal and development drilling programme in the region
including bringing the Al-Amir 1 heavy oil discovery into production.
"In Morocco, we are working to increase our gas production volumes from the present 70,000 cubic metres per day with 4 discovery wells remaining to be brought into production."
| Glossary
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| Bopd | Barrels of oil per day |
In accordance with the guidelines of the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange, Professor Chris Green, Chief Operating Officer of Circle Oil plc, an explorationist and geophysicist with over thirty years oil & gas industry experience, is a qualified person, as defined in the London Stock Exchange's Guidance Note for Mining and Oil and Gas companies, who has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this announcement. In carrying out his review Professor Green has relied on information supplied by the operator.
For further information contact:
Circle Oil Plc (+44 20 7638 9571)
David Hough, CEO
Collins Stewart Europe Limited (+44 20 7523 8350)
Adrian Hadden / Adam Cowen
Fox-Davies Capital (+44 20 7936 5230)
Daniel Fox-Davies
Citigate Dewe Rogerson (+44 20 7638 9571)
Martin Jackson
Notes to Editors:
Circle Oil Plc
Circle Oil Plc (AIM: COP) is an international oil & gas exploration and production Company with an expanding portfolio of assets in Morocco, Tunisia, Oman, Egypt and Namibia with a combination of low-risk near-term production and significant exploration upside potential. The Company listed on AIM in October 2004.
Internationally, the Company has continued to expand its portfolio over the past 2 years and now has assets in the Rharb Basin, Morocco; the Ras Mamour Permit in southern Tunisia; the Mahdia Permit offshore Tunisia; the Grombalia Permit in northern Tunisia; the Zeit Bay area of Egypt and the Owambo Basin, Namibia. Circle also has the largest licence holding of any Company in Oman. In addition to its highly prospective Block 52 offshore, the Company also has an ongoing exploration program in Block 49 onshore.
The Company's strategy is to locate and secure additional licenses in prospective hydrocarbon provinces and through targeted investment programmes, monetise the value in those assets for the benefit of shareholders. This could be achieved through farm-outs to selected partners who would then invest in and continue the development of the asset into production, or Circle may itself opt to use its own expertise to appraise reserves and bring assets into production, generating sustained cash flow for further investment.
Further information on Circle is available on its website at www.circleoil.net