Tanzania: Mlinzi drilling update

Ophir Energy plc

Tanzania: Mlinzi drilling update

London, 2 January 2014: Ophir Energy plc ("Ophir" or "the Company") announces that drilling operations have now concluded on the Mlinzi Mbali-1 well in Block 7*, Tanzania. Ophir has an 80% net interest.The well was located c.210km east of Dar es Salaam and was drilled by the Deepsea Metro I drillship.

Mlinzi Mbali-1 is the first well on Block 7 and targeted a structural crest within a Lower Cretaceous channel complex, with secondary targets in the Upper Cretaceous and the Jurassic. The Cretaceous targets were intersected and are interpreted to be water bearing. The well was completed ahead of time and budget.

The Deepsea Metro I drillship will now be released to BG Group to drill an exploration well in Kenya. It will then return to Tanzania where wells are planned on Block 1 and on Ophir's operated East Pande Block during the first half of 2014.

Nick Cooper, CEO, commented:

"Mlinzi Mbali-1 was the first of a series of high impact, high risk wells that will be drilled by Ophir through 2014. This frontier well disappointingly did not encounter live hydrocarbons, however it is the deepest stratigraphic test offshore Tanzania and will provide crucial information that will be integrated into our interpretation of the potential of Block 7 and the wider deepwater basins of Tanzania"

*Block 7 PSA is held and operated by Dominion Tanzania Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ophir Energy plc.

Ends

For Further Enquiries please contact:

Ophir Energy plc +44 (0)20 7290 5800

Nick Cooper, CEO

Richard Rose, Corporate Communications and Strategy

Brunswick Group +44 (0)20 7404 5959

Patrick Handley

Elizabeth Adams

Notes to Editors

Ophir Energy (OPHR.LN) is an African focused, upstream oil and gas exploration company which is listed on the London Stock Exchange (FTSE 250). Ophir has an extensive deepwater acreage position in West and East Africa acquired since its foundation in 2004.

The Group's headquarters are located in London (England), with an operational office in Perth (Australia), and regional offices in Dar es Salaam and Mtwara (Tanzania), Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), Libreville (Gabon), Nairobi (Kenya) and Accra (Ghana).

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