MOROCCO - Operations Update

RNS Number : 4208R

Predator Oil & Gas Holdings PLC

30 June 2020

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 30 June 2020

Predator Oil & Gas Holdings Plc / Index: LSE / Epic: PRD / Sector: Oil & Gas

Predator Oil & Gas Holdings Plc

("Predator" or the "Company" and together with its subsidiaries "the Group")

MOROCCO - Operations Update

Predator Oil & Gas Holdings Plc (PRD), the Jersey-based Oil and Gas Company with operations in Trinidad, Morocco, and Ireland, notes that the Moroccan authorities have stated that the state of emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is being extended to July 10^th during which time there would be an easing of some of the current restrictive public health measures.

Company focus

Executing safely the Company's proposed drilling programme for the Guercif Permits I, II, III and IV ("Guercif") onshore Morocco remains the most important single objective for the Board and management of the Company. Predator (75%) operates Guercif in joint venture with the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines ("ONHYM") acting on behalf of the State (25%).

Rig status

During the period of lockdown in Morocco, the Star Valley Rig 101 has remained securely stacked in the country ready for mobilisation when circumstances permit.

Petrophysical studies and evidence for gas

NuTech has completed for the Company a modern petrophysical analysis of the GRF-1 well. The gross interval between 1,386 and 1,413 metres TVD KB (27 metres) has interpreted gas saturations in the range 37 to 51%, whilst a gross interval between 1,635 and 1,925 metres TVD KB (290 metres) has gas saturations ranging from 30 to 72%. The new petrophysical analysis supports the presence of a gas charge and is consistent with thermogenic gas shows (mainly methane, but with traces of ethane and propane) recorded on the GRF-1 mud logs and the small volume of gas recovered on a Formation Interval Test at the time of drilling in 1972.

Additional target in first exploration well

The NuTech analysis has identified the upper part of the interval between 1,386 and 1,413 metres TVD KB in GRF-1 as a new additional target for the first exploration well. As a result, the well will present an opportunity to evaluate the western edge of a newly interpreted Tertiary fan complex, covering an area of between 20 and 25 km². A successful drilling result would prove the geological concept and de-risk a large area hitherto regarded as being less prospective and not included in estimates of potential gas resources.

Gas marketing study

SLR Environmental Consulting (Ireland) Limited has been appointed to carry out a  review of the technical feasibility of transporting produced natural gas in the form of compressed natural gas ("CNG") from a potential Guercif production site to the Moroccan centres of industrial production. Potential market size and Indicative costs of CNG transportation will be related to the specific Moroccan infrastructure environment, which includes a railroad passing through Guercif linking Guercif to Morocco's industrial and commercial centres. This study will assess the potential for early monetisation of gas discovered at Guercif. Other options to develop an integrated gas business in Morocco are being assessed for regulatory, technical and commercial feasibility, including subsurface gas storage at Guercif in the context of security of energy supply and a Floating Storage and Regassification Unit ("FRSU"). Presence of gas infrastructure linking Morocco with Europe and the demand for both gas-to-power and to replace coal and oil to reduce carbon emissions is a scenario the Company is very familiar with in Ireland.

Paul Griffiths, Chief Executive of Predator, commented:

"Guercif is pivotal to the Company in terms of developing a gas business utilising the excellent infrastructure that exists in Morocco. We are ready to progress the drilling programme as soon as COVID-19 public health restrictions are eased to facilitate the recommencement of safe operations. We have used lockdown to define additional Guercif prospectivity and to review potential LNG markets suitable for FSRU penetration in those countries where management have a long history of experience and understanding. The business environment is changing, and we need to adapt to change and use this experience and understanding to maximise our business development opportunities. Post COVID-19 will require significant coordinated effort to re-build economies and natural gas will be an inevitable and pragmatic contributor to this evolutionary process, whilst providing jobs, government taxes and security of flexible energy supply necessary for inward investment."

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 on market abuse

For more information please visit the Company's website at  www.predatoroilandgas.com : 

Enquiries:

Predator Oil & Gas Holdings Plc Dr. Stephen Staley Non-executive Chairman Paul Griffiths  Chief Executive Officer	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]
Novum Securities Limited Jon Belliss Optiva Securities Limited Christian Dennis	Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone]
Flagstaff Strategic and Investor Communications Tim Thompson  Mark Edwards Fergus Mellon	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]

Notes to Editors:

Predator is an oil and gas exploration company with the objective of participating with FRAM Exploration Trinidad Ltd. in further developing the remaining oil reserves in the producing Inniss Trinity oil field onshore Trinidad, primarily through the application of C02 EOR technology. Potential for cash flow exists by executing a Pilot Enhanced Oil Recovery project using locally sourced liquid carbon dioxide for injection into the oil reservoirs ("C02 EOR"). Near-term expansion and growth potential is focussed on upscaling the C02 EOR operations in the Inniss-Trinity oil field and potential acquisitions of assets suitable for C02 EOR development, subject to all necessary approvals. 

In addition, Predator also owns and operates exploration and appraisal assets in current licensing options offshore Ireland, for which Successor Authorisations have been applied for, adjoining Shell's Corrib gas field in the Slyne Basin on the Atlantic Margin and east of the Kinsale gas field and Barryroe oil field in the Celtic Sea.

Predator is operator of the Guercif Petroleum Agreement onshore Morocco which is initially prospective for Tertiary gas in prospects less than 10 kilometres from the Maghreb gas pipeline.

The Company has a highly experienced management team with a proven track record in the oil and gas industry.

 

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