Response to SOCO International plc announcement

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

8 January 2018

KUWAIT ENERGY PLC

Response to announcement from SOCO International plc

The Board of Kuwait Energy plc ("Kuwait Energy") notes the announcement today by SOCO International plc ("SOCO") (LSE: SIA) regarding a possible merger of SOCO and Kuwait Energy. Kuwait Energy confirms that it is in preliminary discussions with SOCO in this regard. At this stage, there can be no certainty that any agreement will be reached.

Kuwait Energy bondholders will be kept informed of relevant developments and further announcements will be made as appropriate.

The newly constituted Board of Kuwait Energy is committed to serving the best interest of all its stakeholders and will only pursue a transaction that it considers optimal for the benefit of its shareholders.

About Kuwait Energy

Kuwait Energy is an independent oil and gas company actively engaged in the exploration, appraisal, development and production of hydrocarbons across the MENA region. Kuwait Energy's portfolio currently consists of ten exploration, development and production oil and gas assets in Egypt, Iraq, Yemen and Oman. Kuwait Energy currently produces oil from six of its assets.

Kuwait Energy has its registered office in Jersey, its head office is in Bahrain, its operational hub is in Kuwait, and area offices in Basra, Baghdad, Cairo and Sana'a.

Further information is available at http://www.kuwaitenergy.co.

About SOCO

SOCO is an international oil and gas exploration and production company, headquartered in London and traded on the London Stock Exchange. SOCO has exploration, field development and production interests in Vietnam and exploration and appraisal interests in the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) and Angola. Further information is available at https://www.socointernational.com/home.

Enquiries

Kuwait Energy plc

Tel: (+ 965) 2576-7763 / 2576-7715 / 2576-7830

Aurangzeb Bozdar

Paul Ditchburn

Mohamad Al Timimy

Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Tel: +44 (0)20 7628 1000

Julian Mylchreest

Geoff Iles

Tom Milner

Merrill Lynch International ("BofA Merrill Lynch"), a subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation, is acting exclusively as financial adviser to Kuwait Energy in connection with the matters set out in this announcement and for no one else and will not be responsible to anyone other than Kuwait Energy for providing the protections afforded to its clients or for providing advice in relation to the matters set out in this announcement.