Operational Update

Ophir Energy plc

Operational Update

Q3 drilling programme targeting a net unrisked 500 MMBOE

London, 3 July 2012: Ophir Energy plc ("Ophir" or "the Company") provides the following update on its operations:

Commencement of three well drilling programme in Equatorial Guinea (Block R)

The first well in Ophir's 2012 Block R campaign in Equatorial Guinea was spudded on 2 July by the "Eirik Raude" rig. Ophir operates Block R with an 80% stake.

The Eirik Raude semi-submersible will batch drill the top-hole sections at both Fortuna East and Fortuna West before moving to the Tonel-1 location where it will drill the entire well. Once Tonel-1 has been completed the rig will return to, and complete, Fortuna West and then Fortuna East. The entire programme is anticipated to take 60-90 days.

The three-well 2012 drilling programme is targeting 2.2 TCF (362 MMBOE) of unrisked mean estimated recoverable gross resource:

·; Tonel-1 (736 bcf; 123 MMBOE) is targeting multiple stacked mid-Miocene targets within a stacked, thrust belt. The primary target (510 bcf) is DHI supported. Results are expected to be released in late July.

·; Fortuna West (773 bcf; 128 MMBOE) and Fortuna East (663 bcf; 111 MMBOE) are step out exploration wells from the existing Fortuna-1 gas discovery. These wells are targeting multiple stacked prospects of Miocene to Pliocene age. Both primary targets within the stacked objectives are DHI supported and each has a mean unrisked resource estimate of 300 bcf.

Update on Papa-1 well drilling in Tanzania (Block 3)

The Block 1, 3 and 4 drilling programme, operated by BG (Ophir 40%) continues on schedule.

The Deepsea Metro 1 completed operations at the Mzia-1 discovery (Block 1) on 21 May and the vessel then moved to the Papa-1 location in Block 3. The well spudded on 29 May and is estimated to take 65 days to complete. Papa-1 is targeting the Upper Cretaceous intra-slope channel play within the Rufiji delta. The Papa-1 prospect has an unrisked mean estimated recoverable resource of 3.1 TCF (517 MMBOE). Results are expected to be released in late July.

Once Papa-1 is completed the Deepsea Metro 1 will be assigned to Apache for a single well in Kenya on acreage adjacent to Ophir's Blocks L9 (60%) and L15 (100%), before returning to continue operations with the Ophir-BG Joint Venture in Tanzania.

Update on Gabon Pre-Salt Exploration (Mbeli and Ntsina)

Processing of the pre-salt 3D-seismic survey is approximately 50% complete. Ophir and Petrobras expect to receive the final processed dataset in Q4 2012. Drilling of the first pre-salt target is anticipated in early 2013 subject to rig availability.

Nick Cooper CEO of Ophir said:

"Ophir's 2012 drilling programme has so far delivered the Jodari-1 and Mzia-1 gas discoveries in Tanzania. With the kick-off of our Equatorial Guinea campaign, we are now running simultaneous drilling campaigns in West and East Africa through the summer. A further four well results, targeting a substantial net unrisked resource of 3.0 TCF (500 MMBOE) are anticipated by early September. Shareholders will be updated as these campaigns progress through the summer."

Ends

For Further Enquiries please contact:

Ophir Energy plc +44 (0)20 7290 5800

Nick Cooper, CEO

Stephanie Prior, Commercial Manager

FTI Consulting +44 (0)20 7269 7157

Billy Clegg/Edward Westropp

Notes to Editors

Ophir Energy (OPHR.LN) is an African focussed, upstream oil and gas resource company which is a member of the FTSE 250. The Group's headquarters are located in London (England), with operational offices in Perth (Australia), Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), Dar es Salaam and Mtwara (Tanzania), Dakar (Senegal) and Nairobi (Kenya).

Ophir is the 5th largest deepwater acreage holder in Africa, present in five key emerging sub-Saharan exploration themes, and the largest net acreage holder in offshore East Africa. The company has an extensive and diversified portfolio of assets across East and West Africa comprising of 22 licenses, 18 offshore and 4 onshore, in 11 countries including Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

Ophir has a 2012-13 drilling campaign of over 20 wells across a mixture of proven and frontier plays.

For further information on Ophir, please refer to www.ophir-energy.com