AGM Statement
Gulfsands Petroleum PLC
15 August 2006
15 August 2006
Gulfsands Petroleum plc
('Gulfsands' or 'the Company')
Annual General Meeting
Gulfsands Petroleum PLC is an oil and gas exploration, development and
production company with activities in the USA, Syria and Iraq.
The Following comments were made by Andrew West, Chairman of Gulfsands, at the
Company's Annual General Meeting, held at 11.00am today:
'Gulfsands has made significant progress in what has been a very active and
successful 2005 and 2006 to-date. Despite the impact on production last year,
in what can only be described as an extreme hurricane season, it is particularly
pleasing to note that the company produced strong operational and financial
results.
Our Syrian operations have been particularly active and whilst the recent
hostilities in the Middle East were a concern, this did not hinder our
operations in any way and work on Block 26 has continued. We are also delighted
to have increased our ownership of the Block to 50%, becoming operator in 2005.
Over 1,000 km of 2D seismic was acquired primarily in 2005 and two contracts for
the drilling of three wells on the block were signed. Whilst the results of the
Souedieh North Well were disappointing, where we did not recover movable oil
after initially encountering good shows, the geological and operational data
that we have gained will certainly stand us in good stead for the drilling of
the Tigris-1 well in September. Furthermore, the Company is in discussions for
contracting another drilling rig for drilling two further wells during the first
half of 2007. After the work that we have carried out in this region it is also
particularly gratifying that Ryder Scott has recently completed a reserves
valuation whereby they indicated the NPV of Gulfsands net probable reserves in
Block 26 at $233 million.
Considerable progress has also been made in the Gulf of Mexico and the
restructuring of Northstar Gulfsands LLC has now been completed leaving
Gulfsands with direct ownership of approximately 52.6% of those properties
previously owned by Northstar Gulfsands LLC. The Company participated in seven
wells, five of which were successful discoveries, with two further development
wells drilled in West Delta 64 since May 2005. It is anticipated that we will
have four wells commencing production by September. After the difficulties of
the fourth quarter of last year our production is now back to pre- hurricane
disruption levels. As at 1 January 2006 the NPV of the Group's proved and
probable reserves increased to $183 million, primarily resulting from the four
successful exploration wells and numerous re-completions that have been carried
out.
Work is continuing in Iraq on the Misan Gas Project and we are delighted to have
increased our ownership to 100%. Discussions have progressed recently with the
Iraqi Oil Ministry with a view to Gulfsands gaining a definitive contract by
early 2007.
The Board believes that the outlook for the Company remains strong and our
current activities in the Gulf of Mexico, Syria and Iraq provide significant
potential for further development and expansion, creating further value for
Gulfsands and its shareholders. Whilst we remain cautious in the onset of the
current hurricane season, the Board remains confident that with the continuing
high oil prices and with the expiration of our hedges in June that Gulfsands can
look forward to another exciting year ahead.'
Gulfsands is pleased to report that at the Annual General Meeting all the
resolutions outlined in the notice of the meeting dated 9 June 2006 were duly
passed.
Enquiries:
Gulfsands Petroleum (Houston) 001-713-626-9564
David DeCort, Chief Financial Officer
College Hill (London) 020-7457-2020
Nick Elwes
Paddy Blewer
Teather & Greenwood (London) 020-7426-9000
James Maxwell (Corporate Finance)
Tanya Clarke (Specialist Sales)
NB: This release has been approved by the Company's geological staff who include
Jason Oden, Gulfsands Exploration Manager who has a Bachelor of Science degree
in Geophysics with 22 years of experience in petroleum exploration and
management and is registered as a Professional Geophysicist, for the purpose of
the Guidance Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies issued by the London Stock
Exchange in respect of AIM companies, which outlines standards of disclosure for
mineral projects.
Note to Editors
• Gulf of Mexico, USA
The Company owns interests in 64 offshore blocks comprising approximately
216,000 gross acres which includes 39 producing oil and gas fields offshore
Texas and Louisiana with proved and probable recoverable reserves of 32.4 BCFGE,
consisting of 19.8 BCFG and 2.1 MMBO as of 1 January 2006 with a net present
value of $183 million. Additionally, there is a further 2.8 BCFGE of possible
recoverable reserves with a net present value of $15.8 million.
• Syria
In Syria, Gulfsands owns a 50% working interest in Block 26 and is the operator.
The block covers 11,000 square kilometres and surrounds areas which currently
produce over 100,000 barrels of oil per day from existing fields. In January
2006 the Company completed the acquisition of 1,155 kilometres of 2D seismic and
anticipates drilling two wells during 2006. The first well, known as Souedieh
North, commenced drilling in late April 2006 and was temporarily suspended in
June for further analysis. The second well known as Tigris is scheduled to spud
in September 2006 and has the potential to contain in excess of 500 MMBOE.
Gulfsands has identified 31 total exploitation and exploration prospects within
Block 26 with mean resources potential exceeding 1 billion barrels of
recoverable oil.
Ryder Scott completed a reserves study on the Tigris structure in 2006 and these
reserves were classified as either oil or gas bearing until such time as the
Company drills and tests the Tigris structure. As of 1 July 2006 Ryder Scott
determined that the Probable Reserves net to Gulfsands after applying the terms
of the Production Sharing Contract is 102 BCFG with a net present value
discounted at 10% of $233 million. For primarily a natural gas accumulation, an
additional 75 BCFG of possible reserves net to Gulfsands were estimated to have
a 10% discounted net present value of $261 million. Furthermore, the Company
completed its own economic evaluation on the Prospective Gas Resource and has
estimated that Prospective Gas Resource net to Gulfsands is 577 BCFG with a net
present value of approximately $1.06 billion. In summary total gas reserves
potential net to Gulfsands among Probable and Possible Reserves for the natural
gas case is 177 BCFG (30 MMBOE) with a net present value of $494 million and
when combined with the Prospective Gas Resource it totals 754 BCFG (126 MMBOE)
with a net present value of approximately $1.55 billion.
For primarily an oil accumulation, Ryder Scott determined the Possible Reserves
net to Gulfsands after applying the terms of the Production Sharing Contract are
19.4 million barrels of oil having a net present value discounted at 10% of $452
million. Furthermore, the Company completed its own economic evaluation on the
Prospective Oil Resource and has estimated that Prospective Oil Resource net to
Gulfsands is 50.9 MMBO with a net present value of approximately $1.51 billion.
In summary total oil reserves potential net to Gulfsands among Possible and
Prospective Oil Resource for the oil case is 70.3 MMBO with a net present value
of approximately $1.96 billion.
• Iraq
Gulfsands signed a Memorandum of Understanding in January 2005 with the Ministry
of Oil in Iraq for the Misan Gas Project in Southern Iraq and is currently
negotiating the definitive contract for the project. The project will gather,
process and transmit natural gas that is currently a waste by-product of oil
production in the region and will end the environmentally damaging practice of
gas flaring. Gulfsands has completed a feasibility study and expects to conduct
further technical work and commercial discussions with the Iraq Oil Ministry.
• Onshore USA
Gulfsands operates onshore in the USA through its 83% owned subsidiary company
Darcy Energy LLC. As of 1 January 2006, Darcy Energy owned interests in two oil
and gas fields onshore Texas, USA (Emily Hawes and Barb Mag) with proved and
probable recoverable reserves of 1.6 BCFGE, consisting of 1.2 BCFG and 58,000
barrels of oil with a net present value of $9.5 million. Additionally, there is
a further 2.2 BCFGE of possible recoverable reserves with a net present value of
$7.9 million.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange