Commencement of Abu Sennan drilling campaign

RNS Number : 3299D

Rockhopper Exploration plc

26 April 2017

 

26 April 2017

Rockhopper Exploration plc

("Rockhopper" or the "Company")

Commencement of Abu Sennan drilling campaign

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the oil and gas company with key interests in the North Falkland Basin and the Greater Mediterranean region, is pleased to announce the commencement of the 2017 drilling campaign on the Abu Sennan Concession in Egypt in which the Company has a 22% working interest.

Exploration well Al Jahraa SE-2X, situated on the recently awarded Abu Sennan-5 (Al Jahraa South East) Development Lease, was spudded on 25 April 2017 by the Operator Kuwait Energy as part of a two-well drilling campaign.

The well will target the Cretaceous Abu Roash-C reservoir in the fault block immediately to the south of the Al Jahraa South East discovery location where, if successful, it could add over 20 mmbbls of STOIIP to the development lease.

The well is anticipated to take approximately 40 days to drill and evaluate, and in the success case would be immediately completed as an oil producer.

Following completion of the Al Jahraa SE-2X well, the rig will move to the Al Jahraa-9 location to drill a development well which will target the AR-C reservoir at a location deeper than the current deepest oil penetration at Al Jahraa-4. The aim will be to demonstrate the connection between the Al Jahraa and Al Jahraa South East fields through the oil leg.

In addition, the operator has proposed two work-over operations during Q2 2017.

The outcome of the above programme will inform partner discussions regarding  appropriate activities in the second half of the year.

Sam Moody, CEO of Rockhopper, commented:

"We are pleased to start this drilling campaign on our Egyptian acreage and hope it will enable us to build further on our local production and resource base. We look forward to updating the market on progress in due course."

For further information, please contact:

Rockhopper Exploration plc

Tel: (via Vigo Communications) - 020 7830 9700

Sam Moody - Chief Executive

Fiona MacAulay - Chief Operating Officer

Stewart MacDonald - Chief Financial Officer

Canaccord Genuity Limited (NOMAD and Joint Broker)

Tel: [phone]

Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor

Vigo Communications

Tel: [phone]

Patrick d'Ancona

Ben Simons

Further information

This announcement is for information only and is not intended to and does not constitute, or form part of any offer to sell or invitation to purchase or subscribe for any securities, or any solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction pursuant to the Acquisition or otherwise. This announcement does not constitute a prospectus or a prospectus equivalent document.

Note regarding Rockhopper oil and gas disclosure

This announcement has been approved by Rockhopper's geological staff who include Fiona MacAulay (Chief Operating Officer), who is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London and a Member of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain and American Association of Petroleum Geologists with over 25 years of experience in petroleum exploration and management, and who is the qualified person as defined in the Guidance Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies issued by the London Stock Exchange in respect of AIM companies. In compiling its resource estimates, Rockhopper has used the definitions and guidelines as set forth in the 2007 Petroleum Resources Management System approved by the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Glossary

Mmbls	Million barrels
STOIIP	Stock-tank oil initially in place

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR").

 

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