Tonel Well Gas Discovery

Ophir Energy plc

Tonel well successful - 800BCF (133mmboe) gas discovery

London, 25 July 2012: Ophir Energy plc ("Ophir" or "the Company") announces that the Tonel-1 (R-4) well in Block R, Equatorial Guinea, is a 800BCF (133mmboe) gas discovery.

Highlights:

·; Tonel-1 (R-4) is the third gas discovery by Ophir in Block R, and the fifth in the block to date. Ophir operates Block R with an 80% stake.

·; The discovery has exceeded pre-drill expectations, with an estimated mean in-place resource of 1.1TCF (177mmboe) and a recoverable mean resource of 800BCF (133mmboe).

·; A 182m gas column was encountered in the mid-Miocene sandstone target with a total 117m of net pay.

·; Cumulative de-risked, recoverable gas resources in Block R are now ca. 2.2 TCF (367mmboe).

Tonel is the first in the three well Ophir operated 2012 Block R drilling campaign in Equatorial Guinea using the "Eirik Raude" semi-submersible rig. The well spudded on 07 July 2012 in a water depth of 1,599m and was drilled to a total depth of 3,072m subsea.

A 182m gas bearing column was encountered containing a total 117m of net pay in mid-Miocene aged sands, trapped within a thrust belt anticline. The gas quality appears to be consistent with that observed in previous dry gas discoveries in Block R. Gross in place mean resources for the Tonel-1 (R-4) discovery are estimated at 1.1TCF (177mmboe). Gross recoverable mean resources are estimated of 800BCF (133mmboe), exceeding pre-drill estimates of 708 BCF (118mmboe). 

The Tonel discovery takes the total de-risked, recoverable gas resources in Block R to ca. 2.2TCF (367mmboe); approaching the minimum commercial threshold for a second LNG train on Bioko Island, which is estimated to be ca. 2.5TCF.

The Erik Raude rig will now move to undertake appraisal and satellite exploration drilling around Ophir's previous Fortuna-1 (R-2) gas discovery. The Fortuna East and Fortuna West wells have been designed with dual objectives:

·; Primary objective: to appraise elements of the Miocene age Fortuna Fan as discovered by the Fortuna-1 well and thereby convert discovered resource into contingent (2C) resource.

·; Secondary objective: to separately target medium risk amplitude supported, stacked secondary targets of Miocene to Pliocene age.

Fortuna East-1 (R-5) will commence next week and results are anticipated during August 2012. It will appraise 304BCF (51mmboe) of the earlier Fortuna Fan discovery and will separately test the 359BCF (60mmboe) Viscata exploration prospect.

Fortuna West-1 (R-6) will follow with results anticipated in early September 2012. It will appraise another 299BCF (50mmboe) of the Fortuna Fan discovery and will separately test the 474BCF (79mmboe) Felix target.

Nick Cooper CEO of Ophir said:

 "We are very pleased to announce our third major discovery of 2012. Tonel represents the fifth and largest gas discovery on Block R to date and importantly represents a significant step towards the commercial threshold volumes required for a second train of LNG from Equatorial Guinea.

"The drilling programme will now return to the vicinity of our earlier Fortuna-1 discovery. The Fortuna East-1 and Fortuna West-1 wells are designed to appraise 603BCF (101mmboe) of the Fortuna Fan discovery and also to target additional cumulative exploration volumes of 833 BCF (139mmboe). The three well campaign is due to complete by September."

There will be a conference call for investors and analysts at 11.00am UK time today. To access the call, please dial +44 (0)1452 569 393 five minutes prior and ask for the Ophir Energy conference call.

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.

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