Last checked at 15 Feb 2011 12:57
15th February 2011
SOCO International plc
("SOCO" or the "Company")
Incident in the Democratic Republic of Congo
SOCO confirms an incident yesterday regarding individuals working for a security company contracted to the Company and government security personnel, following an attack in Block V outside the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo ("DRC").From the information currently available SOCO understands that at this point only one individual from the contract security company, while unharmed, is being held.SOCO is in contact with its partners, Government and other local authorities to assess and react to the situation.
An update will be provided in due course.
ENQUIRIES:
SOCO International plc
Antony Maris, Vice President - Operations and Production
Tel: 020 7747 2000
Pelham Bell Pottinger
James Henderson
Victoria Geoghegan
Tel: 020 7861 3232
NOTES TO EDITORS:
SOCO is an international oil and gas exploration and production company, headquartered in London, traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. The Company has interests in Vietnam, the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), the DRC (Kinshasa) and Angola, with production operations in Vietnam.
SOCO holds its interests in the DRC (Kinshasa), all onshore, though its 85% owned subsidiary, SOCO Exploration and Production DRC Sprl ("SOCO E&P DRC"). SOCO E&P DRC holds a 65% working interest in the Nganzi Block, situated 50 kilometres from the west coast, and a 38.25% participating interest in Block 5, situated in the southern Albertine Graben in eastern DRC. SOCO E&P DRC is designated operator of both Blocks.