Tunisia - One year extension and new prospectivity

RNS Number : 2132M

Upland Resources Limited

20 January 2021

 

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This announcement is not an offer for sale, or a solicitation of an offer to acquire, securities in any jurisdiction, including in or into the United States, Canada, Australia, or Japan. Neither this announcement nor any part of it shall form the basis of or be relied on in connection with or act as an inducement to enter into any contract or commitment whatsoever.

20 January 2021

UPLAND RESOURCES LIMITED

("Upland" or the "Company")

Tunisia update - One year extension and new prospectivity

Upland Resources Limited (LSE: UPL), the oil and gas company actively building a portfolio of attractive upstream assets in proven, mature south-east Asian and north African basins is pleased to report the following from its activities in the Tunisian Saouaf licence area ('Saouaf Permit') where the Company is currently engaged in a Joint Venture with the Tunisian National Oil Company ('ETAP'):

Highlights:

· The Saouaf Prospecting Permit duration will be extended for one year, expiring on 23 December 2022.

·     Detailed multidisciplinary interpretation of all vintage data has been completed and presented to ETAP, revealing a rich array of new plays and material prospectivity.

·     A 2021 work programme, including geochemical and geological studies, the reprocessing of vintage seismic lines and the acquisition of an additional 2D seismic survey, was submitted to ETAP at the Operating Committee Meeting ('OCM') held on 12 January 2021.

The Company is pleased to report that it has been informed by the Direction Générale des Hydrocarbures of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mines that the Saouaf Prospecting Permit duration will be extended for one year, expiring on 23 December 2022, following a request submitted by the Company in August 2020. It is expected that further formal notification of this approval will be conveyed within the Official Gazette of the Republic of Tunisia.

As part of the ongoing de-risking work programme within the Saouaf licence area, the Company's technical team have integrated geology, geophysics and geochemistry to complete a sound geological model of the subsurface of the Saouaf license area. Following detailed analysis of all available vintage well and seismic data using state-of-the-art geoseismic software and interpretation in a multidisciplinary model, the prospectivity of the license area has been assessed at all significant geological levels, namely at Eocene, Cretaceous, Jurassic and Pre-Salt level.

This work has been presented to ETAP, to their satisfaction, at the Technical Committee Meeting preceding the 12 January 2021 OCM. Large, prospective traps have been mapped at Lower Cretaceous-Jurassic level in the eastern part of the block, where isolated carbonate platforms or build-ups are recognised on the seismic data. With regards to the promising sub-salt play, new for the Saouaf area but well proven in Algeria and Morocco, gravity anomaly data and the existing seismic sections indicate the presence of a prominent structural high within the license area.

The 2021 work programme submitted to ETAP for approval includes the reprocessing of specific vintage seismic lines, the acquisition of a new 300 km 2D seismic survey and multidisciplinary geological and geochemical studies, aiming at de-risking the identified leads and prospects.

Upland CEO Bolhassan Di commented:

"The grant of a one-year extension to our Saouaf Prospecting Permit in Tunisia will allow the Company to progress the work programme in a flexible manner against a background of Covid related travel restrictions and is presently our highest priority as we continue to define and de-risk material prospectivity.

We are extremely pleased that our partner ETAP backs the technical results reached so far as our work continues on exploration and de-risking of the Saouaf Permit and we look forward to the publication of results in the near term."

-ENDS-

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

For further information, please contact:

Upland Resources Limited Bolhassan Di, CEO	www.uplandres.com Tel: [phone]
	[e-mail]
Optiva Securities - Broker	www.optivasecurities.com
Jeremy King (Corporate Finance)	Tel: _+44 (0)20 3137 1904 [e-mail]
Christian Dennis (Corporate Broker)	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]

FTI Consulting - Financial PR Ben Brewerton	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]
Christopher Laing	Tel: [phone] ch ristopher.laing @fticonsulting.com
Flowcomms - IR Contact
Sasha Sethi	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]

 

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