Morocco Operations Update

London, 28th October, 2013: Gulfsands Petroleum plc (“Gulfsands”, the “Group” or the “Company” – AIM: GPX), the oil and gas production, exploration and development company with activities in Syria, Morocco, Tunisia, Colombia and the U.S.A. is pleased to provide the following update on activities underway in Morocco.

Rharb Drilling Programme

Drilling operations on the Al Krima 1 well (AKR-1) located within the Rharb Centre Permit in Northern Morocco have now commenced using the recently imported COFOR SAS rig referred to in our news release of 10th July, 2013. The AKR-1 well is the first of nine wells to be drilled on the Rharb permits in two back to back drilling programmes.

The AKR-1 well is planned to be drilled to a total vertical depth of approximately 1450 metres and is designed to evaluate two distinct Miocene aged reservoirs, contained within a fault bound structural closure, that have been identified from seismic data as having the potential to be gas bearing.

The AKR-1 well is located very close to existing infrastructure, with the surface location of the well lying within one kilometer of a gas export pipeline into which it is anticipated a successful well would be quickly tied in for delivery of gas to pre-existing demand from local buyers.

The Company expects that drilling operations will be completed within 28 days.

Seismic Programmes

Rharb Permit

The 3D seismic survey of approximately 220 square kilometres being carried out over the highly prospective south-western part of the Rharb permit area is nearing completion with final data capture expected to be completed by the end of October and thereafter the data will be processed for use early next year to assist the Company in the further delineation of drilling targets for the remainder of the Company’s nine well drilling programme.

Fes Permit

The second seismic programme, designed to capture approximately 650 kilometres of 2D data on the prospective Fes permit, is continuing and is anticipated to be completed, subject to weather, early in 2014 with processing and interpretation to follow immediately thereafter.

This 2D seismic program is designed to assist in the identification and prioritisation of additional drilling targets on the Fes permit and to more accurately define existing drill targets identified using the results of an earlier gravity survey programme and legacy 2D seismic data.

The Company anticipates drilling at least one and possibly a second well on the Fes permit area during 2014 using the data captured in this 2D seismic survey. The first well in this proposed three well programme is currently anticipated to commence drilling in the middle of 2014.

Mahdi Sajjad, the Company’s CEO commented: “We are very pleased that the Company has now begun drilling operations in Morocco and we look forward to seeing the results of this first well later next month.

This significant milestone has been achieved as a result of the excellent cooperation we have received from the management of ONHYM, our government owned partner in our activities in Morocco, and the commitment and important contribution of a number of our key technical and administrative personnel who we have drawn from our other projects in the MENA region to help get our activities underway as quickly as possible and to ensure we establish a cost effective operation in Morocco.

We continue to look for opportunities to expand our business in Morocco but for the moment, our number one priority and focus is on making a success of our Rharb drilling programme and to the early commercialisation of the gas resources we are targeting.”

This release has been approved by Jason Oden, Gulfsands Vice President: Exploration who has a Bachelor of Science degree in Geophysics with 28 years of experience in petroleum exploration and management and is registered as a Professional Geophysicist. Mr. Oden has consented to the inclusion of the technical information in this release in the form and context in which it appears.

 

For further information, please refer to the Company’s website www.gulfsands.com or contact:

Gulfsands Petroleum
+44 (0)20 7024 2130
Mahdi Sajjad, Chief Executive Officer
Kenneth Judge, Commercial Director

Buchanan
+44 (0)20 7466 5000
Bobby Morse
Ben Romney

RBC Capital Markets
+44 (0)20 7653 4000
Matthew Coakes
Daniel Conti
Tim Chapman

FirstEnergy Capital
+44(0)20 7448 0200
Majid Shafiq
Jonathan Wright

 

Certain statements included herein constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. These forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions made by Gulfsands and as such are not a guarantee of future performance. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements due to factors such as general economic and market conditions, increased costs of production or a decline in oil and gas prices. Gulfsands is under no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws.