Egypt Update

 

TIDMCOP 
 
RNS Number : 3547Y 
Circle Oil PLC 
02 September 2009 
 

 
 
 
 
02 September 2009 
 
 
Circle Oil Plc 
("Circle" or the "Company") 
 
 
Commencement of Oil Production from Al-Amir SE-3 and Geyad-1 Wells, 
NW Gemsa Concession, Egypt 
 
 
 
 
Circle Oil Plc (AIM: COP), the international oil and gas exploration and 
development company, is pleased to announce that both the Al-Amir SE-3 appraisal 
well and the Geyad-1 discovery well in the NW Gemsa Concession, Egypt, have been 
connected to pipeline infrastructure by the operator Vegas Oil and Gas and have 
commenced commercial oil production. 
 
 
Circle is also delighted to confirm that average gross daily oil production from 
the four producing wells* on the NW Gemsa Concession has now reached 
approximately 4,300 - 4,350 bopd following an initial 
production period from the two new wells. 
 
 
The rig, Mubarak-1, is now drilling the Al-Amir SE-4 appraisal well and results 
will be communicated to the market in due course. 
 
 
The NW Gemsa concession covers an area of over 260 square kilometres and lies 
about 300 kilometres southeast of Cairo, in a partially unexplored area of the 
Gulf of Suez Basin. The concession agreement includes the right of conversion to 
a production licence of 20 years, plus extensions, in the event of commercial 
discoveries. The NW Gemsa Concession partners are Vegas Oil and Gas (50% 
interest and operator), Circle Oil plc (40% interest) and Premier Oil (10% 
interest). The producing wells are located within development leases, valid for 
a 20 year period and separately delineated within the NW Gemsa Concession area. 
 
 
*Al-Amir SE-1, Al-Amir SE-2, Al-Amir SE-3 and Geyad-1 
 
 
 
 
Commenting on this latest discovery, David Hough, CEO of Circle, said: 
 
 
"We are obviously delighted with the successful tie-in of these two additional 
producing wells on our NW Gemsa interest, which effectively doubles Circle's 
Egyptian oil production.  We look forward to further 
increases in production from our continuing appraisal and development 
drilling programme in the region 
including bringing the Al-Amir 1 heavy oil discovery into production. 
 
 
"In Morocco, we are working to increase our gas production volumes from the 
present 70,000 cubic metres per day with 4 discovery wells remaining to be 
brought into production." 
 
 
 
+-----------------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 
| Glossary        |                                                            | 
|                 |                                                            | 
+-----------------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 
| Bopd            | Barrels of oil per day                                     | 
+-----------------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 
 
 
 
 
In accordance with the guidelines of the AIM Market of the London Stock 
Exchange, Professor Chris Green, Chief Operating Officer of Circle Oil plc, an 
explorationist and geophysicist with over thirty years oil & gas industry 
experience, is a qualified person, as defined in the London Stock Exchange's 
Guidance Note for Mining and Oil and Gas companies, who has reviewed and 
approved the technical information contained in this announcement. In carrying 
out his review Professor Green has relied on information supplied by the 
operator. 
 
 
 
 
For further information contact: 
 
 
Circle Oil Plc ([phone]) 
David Hough, CEO 
 
 
Collins Stewart Europe Limited ([phone]) 
Adrian Hadden / Adam Cowen 
 
 
Fox-Davies Capital ([phone]) 
Daniel Fox-Davies 
 
 
Citigate Dewe Rogerson ([phone]) 
Martin Jackson 
 
 
 
 
Notes to Editors: 
 
 
Circle Oil Plc 
 
 
Circle Oil Plc (AIM: COP) is an international oil & gas exploration and 
production Company with an expanding portfolio of assets in Morocco, Tunisia, 
Oman, Egypt and Namibia with a combination of low-risk near-term production and 
significant exploration upside potential. The Company listed on AIM in October 
2004. 
 
 
Internationally, the Company has continued to expand its portfolio over the past 
2 years and now has assets in the Rharb Basin, Morocco; the Ras Mamour Permit in 
southern Tunisia; the Mahdia Permit offshore Tunisia; the Grombalia Permit in 
northern Tunisia; the Zeit Bay area of Egypt and the Owambo Basin, Namibia. 
Circle also has the largest licence holding of any Company in Oman. In addition 
to its highly prospective Block 52 offshore, the Company also has an ongoing 
exploration program in Block 49 onshore. 
 
 
The Company's strategy is to locate and secure additional licenses in 
prospective hydrocarbon provinces and through targeted investment programmes, 
monetise the value in those assets for the benefit of shareholders. This could 
be achieved through farm-outs to selected partners who would then invest in and 
continue the development of the asset into production, or Circle may itself opt 
to use its own expertise to appraise reserves and bring assets into production, 
generating sustained cash flow for further investment. 
 
 
Further information on Circle is available on its website at www.circleoil.net 
 
This information is provided by RNS 
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange 
   END 
 
 MSCBUGDCLXGGGCB