24th May 2006 07:03
Gulfsands Petroleum PLC24 May 2006 24 May 2006 Gulfsands Petroleum PLC("Gulfsands" or "the Company") Preliminary Results from Souedieh North Well in Syria Gulfsands Petroleum PLC (symbol GPX), the AIM listed oil and gas exploration,development and production company with activities in the USA, Syria and Iraq,is pleased to announce that the Company has drilled the Souedieh North well inBlock 26, Syria to a total depth of 7,298 feet. While drilling, the wellencountered a series of live oil and gas shows in both the primary and thesecondary reservoir objectives and wireline electric logs analysis indicates oilbearing pay within this well. Gulfsands is the operator and 50% workinginterest owner in Block 26. Live oil and gas shows were encountered while drilling through the secondaryobjective Tertiary-age reservoirs. Electric wireline logs have been run in theTertiary reservoir section of the well and independent log analysis indicatessome 61 feet of potential net oil pay over a gross interval of 142 feet.Acquisition of additional information is required to determine the potentialsignificance of this zone. Live oil and gas shows were also encountered while drilling through the primaryobjective Cretaceous-age reservoirs. The Company is currently preparing toobtain wireline log data over the Cretaceous reservoir section in the well aftersetting an intermediate string of casing over the Tertiary section to maintainwellbore stability. Further results from the well should be forthcoming within the next few weeks. Gulfsands' CEO, John Dorrier, said: "Initial results of the Souedieh North-1 well are very encouraging. We expectfurther electric logging and testing of the well during the next several weeksto confirm the well is a commercial oil discovery." Enquiries: Gulfsands Petroleum (Houston) 001-713-626-9564David DeCort, Chief Financial Officer College Hill (London) 020-7457-2020Ben Brewerton Teather & Greenwood (London) 020-7426-9000James Maxwell (Corporate Finance)Tanya Clarke (Specialist Sales) NB: This release has been approved by Jason Oden, Gulfsands Exploration Managerwho has a Bachelor of Science degree in Geophysics with 22 years of experiencein petroleum exploration and management and is registered as a ProfessionalGeophysicist. Mr. Oden of Gulfsands and also Peter Hitchens on behalf ofTeather & Greenwood Limited, the Company's Nominated Advisor, have consented tothe inclusion of the material in the form and context in which it appears. Note to Editors • Gulf of Mexico, USA The Company owns interests in 64 offshore blocks comprising approximately216,000 gross acres which includes 39 producing oil and gas fields offshoreTexas 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 presentvalue of $183 million. Additionally, there is a further 2.8 BCFGE of possiblerecoverable 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 currentlyproduce over 100,000 barrels of oil per day from existing fields. In January2006 the Company completed the acquisition of 1,155 kilometers of 2D seismic andanticipates drilling two wells during 2006. The first well, known as SouediehNorth, commenced drilling in late April 2006. The second well known as Tigrisis scheduled to spud in August of 2006 and has the potential to contain inexcess of 500 MMBOE. Gulfsands has identified 31 total exploitation andexploration prospects within Block 26 with mean resources potential exceeding 1billion barrels of recoverable oil. An independent reserves report was issued in January 2006 on the Tigrisstructure. The reserves were classified as either oil or gas bearing until suchtime as the Company drills and tests the Tigris structure. The reserve reportconcluded that there are 442 BCFG of probable recoverable reserves in the Tigrisstructure. Additionally, the report classified the possible reserves as eithernatural gas or oil. The gas case reflected an additional 442 BCFG in possiblerecoverable reserves and an additional 3447 BCFG as prospective resource. Theoil case reflects 104 MMBO and 64 BCFG in possible recoverable reserves and afurther 408 MMBO and 245 BCFG as prospective resource. In summary, the naturalgas case equates to total recoverable reserves potential among probablereserves, possible reserves and prospective resource as 4330 BCFG (722 MMBOE),while the oil case equates to 512 MMBO and 308 BCFG (combined 563 MMBOE). • Iraq Gulfsands signed a Memorandum of Understanding in January 2005 with the Ministryof Oil in Iraq for the Misan Gas Project in Southern Iraq and is currentlynegotiating the definitive contract for the project. The project will gather,process and transmit natural gas that is currently a waste by-product of oilproduction in the region and will end the environmentally damaging practice ofgas flaring. Gulfsands has completed a feasibility study and expects to conductfurther technical work and commercial discussions with the Iraq Oil Ministry. • Onshore USA Gulfsands operates onshore in the USA through its 83% owned subsidiary companyDarcy Energy LLC. As of 1 January 2006, Darcy Energy owned interests in two oiland gas fields onshore Texas, USA (Emily Hawes and Barb Mag) with proved andprobable recoverable reserves of 1.6 BCFGE, consisting of 1.2 BCFG and 58,000barrels of oil with a net present value of $9.5 million. Additionally, there isa 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 ExchangeRelated Shares:
Gulfsands Petroleum