3rd Apr 2007 07:02
Afren PLC03 April 2007 Afren plc (AIM: AFR) Okoro Setu Project Development Plan receives Government Approval London, 3 April 2007 - Afren plc ("Afren" or "the Company") and its partner AmniInternational Petroleum Development Company ("AMNI") announce approval of theField Development Plan for the Okoro Setu Project. The Boards of Afren and AMNI are delighted to announce that the FieldDevelopment Plan ("FDP") for the development of the Okoro Setu Project has beenapproved by the Department of Petroleum Resources in Nigeria. The approved FDPfeatures: • Development drilling of up to 6 deviated or horizontal gravel packedoil production wells from a single field location and supported by a minimumfacilities well head platform. • Optimisation of the drilling and completion sequence, commencing in Q32007. • The transportation of oil by pipeline to a leased Floating ProductionStorage and Offloading vessel ("FPSO"), moored 1 km south of the field, forprocessing. • Total well fluids processing, producing stabilised crude for storagein the FPSO, with subsequent regular off-take by tanker. Associated gasproduction will be utilised as fuel for the vessel's power generation and aslift gas to assist well productivity. Most major contracts and materials purchase orders are in place to support theoverall target for first oil by early 2008 and the Company is in advanced stagenegotiations on its preferred FPSO. Osman Shahenshah, Chief Executive of Afren, commented: "It is a real accomplishment to have achieved Field Development Plan approvalwithin four months of appraisal drilling. Together with the recently securedUS$200 million debt facility, Field Development Plan approval marks anotherimportant milestone in achieving our target of 15,000 - 20,000 bopd by early2008" 3 April 2007 Enquiries: Afren plc +44 20 7182 1800Osman Shahenshah Chief ExecutiveEvert Jan Mulder Chief Operating OfficerGalib Virani Investor Relations Jefferies International Limited +44 20 7618 3500Toby HaywardJack Pryde Tristone Capital Limited +44 20 7399 2480Simon Ashby-RuddMajid Shafiq Pelham Public Relations +44 20 7743 6673James HendersonAlisdair Haythornthwaite Background information Afren (www.afren.com) was founded in December 2004 by a management teamincluding Dr Rilwanu Lukman, (Chairman), Osman Shahenshah, (Chief Executive) andBert Cooper (Advisor to the Board), with the vision to become the premier panAfrican independent Exploration and Production company. Since its listing onthe AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, Afren has rapidly expanded itsportfolio and the management team has delivered nine assets in the JointDevelopment Zone of Nigeria Sao Tome and Principe, Nigeria, Gabon, Angola andCongo Brazzaville. Afren will continue to add to its diversified portfolio of near term developmentand high impact exploration, with the overall objective of creating substantialshareholder value. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
AFR.L