23 Apr 2009 07:00
23 April 2009.
MOROCCO DRILLING UPDATE
WELL DRJ-6 COMPLETED
Circle Oil plc (AIM:COP)(the "Company") the international oil and gas exploration and production company, is pleased to announce that drilling and logging operations in its DRJ-6 well in the Sebou licence in the Rharb Basin have been completed.
The well, the fourth in the Company's six well campaign in the Rharb, was drilled to a total depth of 1366 metres and has encountered 4 metres of gas bearing sands with significant gas readings recorded during drilling and interpreted from subsequent logging operations. Flow testing of the sands located close to the top of the Base Guebbas Formation has been postponed due to the need for specialized drilling materials and testing equipment. Obtaining these would have resulted in significant delays and unnecessary expenditure at this time, hence the Company's decision to postpone the test. These sands will be flow tested at a later date.
The drilling rig is now moving to commence drilling CGD-10, the fifth well of the campaign.
Commenting on this news, David Hough, CEO of Circle said:
"We are very pleased to have drilled and logged more gas bearing sands in our latest well and look forward to testing the well in due course. Spudding of the CGD-10 well is anticipated to commence as soon as the re-mobilisation of the drilling rig and equipment to the site has been successfully completed."
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.
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 / George Cazenove
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 Oil is available on its website at www.circleoil.net
This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange