Petro Matad Limited Operational Update (6423E)

TIDMMATD

RNS Number : 6423E

Petro Matad Limited

13 February 2018

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DEEMED BY PETRO MATAD LIMITED TO CONSTITUTE INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) NO. 596/2014 ("MAR"). ON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE ("RIS"), THIS INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.

13 February 2018

Petro Matad Limited

("Petro Matad" or the "Company")

Operational Update

Petro Matad, the AIM quoted Mongolian oil explorer, is pleased to provide an operational update for its planned 2018 work programme:

Highlights

-- Completed a US$16.8 million fundraising to execute a four well drilling programme on the Company's acreage in 2018, with the first well, Wild Horse-1, planned to spud in Q2 2018 using the previously contracted and fully certified Sinopec Rig 4518

   --      Making progress to source a rig to drill the two well programme in Block XX in H2 2018 

-- Processing of the 2D and 3D seismic surveys acquired in Blocks IV and V respectively is ongoing. Data quality is very good and the work is progressing on schedule with final processed products expected by the end of Q1 2018

Blocks IV and V

The Company's planned two well, back to back, exploration drilling programme will commence with the spudding of a well on the Wild Horse prospect in Block IV in the Baatsagaan Basin. The Wild Horse prospect is a prominent structural high well positioned to receive oil charge from two of the largest and deepest potential source kitchen areas in the Company's western Mongolian acreage. The planned total depth ("TD") of the well is 1,850 metres, penetrating a significant thickness of stratigraphy within closure. The Company's mid-case estimate of prospective resources in the Wild Horse structure is 290MMbo recoverable, with significant upside potential (c.750MMbo recoverable) identified in 13 further prospects and leads in the same basin that would be partially de-risked by success in Wild Horse-1. The well is expected to take approximately 30-45 days to drill and log at a cost of approximately US$4 million.

Following Wild Horse-1, the rig will move to Block V and drill the Falcon prospect in the Tugrug Basin. The primary objective of the recently acquired 3D survey was to accurately delineate the cluster of prospects in the Falcon area to ensure the well is optimally located to penetrate the primary reservoir targets. Falcon-1 is planned to be drilled to a TD of circa 3,000 metres and it is expected that the well will take approximately 60 days to drill and log at a cost of approximately US$7 million. The Company's mid-case prospective resource estimate for the Falcon prospect is 100MMbo recoverable with 180MMbo of follow up potential identified nearby.

The Falcon area has been high graded for early drilling as there is very good evidence, including live oil staining in reservoirs penetrated in a nearby deep core hole, that the petroleum system is working in the Tugrug Basin. As a result of this high grading, Falcon has moved ahead of the Snow Leopard prospect in the Company's preferred drilling order. The Snow Leopard prospect remains an attractive target for exploration in the Taats Basin of Block V and the Company looks forward to drilling the feature with the results from the 2018 drilling campaign in hand.

Efforts are now focused on securing the necessary environmental, chemical and land use permits that are required prior to the commencement of drilling. The Company is targeting the spud of the Wild Horse-1 well as early in the Mongolian drilling season (mid-April to mid-November) as possible to provide sufficient time to fully complete operations and evaluate the results of the 2018 drilling programme. The exact timing of the first well spud is dependent upon securing the necessary permits. As a result of the ongoing engagement with the Ministry of Mining, the Ministry of Environment and the industry regulator MRPAM, the Company expects that Wild Horse-1 will spud in Q2 2018.

Sinopec Rig 4518, contracted for the 2018 drilling campaign in Blocks IV and V, has been stored for the winter in a Sinopec facility in southern Mongolia. Mobilisation will commence once the Company has secured the necessary drilling permits from the Mongolian authorities.

Block XX

The Company is in active discussions with drilling contractors operating in Mongolia to secure a rig for its 2018 work programme in Block XX, and the Company is confident that a suitable rig will be contracted to enable drilling in 2018, as planned. The Company's current intention is to spud the Gazelle prospect in Q3 2018, with a second well to follow on immediately afterwards at a location still to be determined, based on ongoing technical work.

The prospectivity in the northern part of Block XX, neighbouring the producing fields in Block XIX, offers a good chance of success with the potential to put commercial discoveries on-stream quickly, utilising spare capacity in nearby facilities. The recently approved two-year extension to the exploration term of Block XX allows the Company sufficient time to explore these near field opportunities, with the 2018 two well programme being the first step in that campaign.

Mike Buck, CEO of Petro Matad said:

"This is a very exciting time for Petro Matad as we head into one of the highest impact drilling campaigns any independent has undertaken in Mongolia. We are now deep into the preparation phase to spud our first well at Wild Horse-1 in Q2 2018. We are pleased to see that rig availability for our planned drilling in Block XX looks good. I look forward to updating the market on our progress as our preparations for this highly active year continue".

For more information, please contact:

 
 Petro Matad Limited 
                           [phone] / +97 
 Mike Buck, CEO             675 751 099 
 
 Stockdale Securities Limited (Nominated Adviser 
  and Broker) 
 Richard Johnson 
  Andy Crossley 
  El Hanan Lee             [phone] 
 
 FTI Consulting (Communications Advisory Firm) 
 Edward Westropp           [phone] 
 

All Reserves and Resources definitions and estimates shown in this report are based on the 2007 SPE/AAPG/WPC/SPEE Petroleum Resource Management System ("PRMS").

Technical information in this news release has been reviewed by the Company's Senior Petroleum Geology Advisor, Mr. Andrew Barnwell, who is the Petroleum Geologist & Director at Barnwell Parker Geoscience Ltd. He has 30 years of experience in oil and gas exploration and holds a M.Sc./DIC in Petroleum Geology from Imperial College, London. Mr Barnwell is a member of the Petroleum Exploration Society Great Britain.

Glossary

 
 MMbo          million barrels of oil 
 Prospective   estimated volumes associated with 
  Resources     undiscovered accumulations. These 
                represent quantities of petroleum 
                which are estimated, as of a given 
                date, to be potentially recoverable 
                from oil and gas deposits identified 
                on the basis of indirect evidence 
                but which have not yet been drilled 
 TD            total depth 
 

About Petro Matad

Petro Matad is the parent company of a group focussed on oil exploration, as well as future development and production in Mongolia. At the current time, Petro Matad holds the sole operatorship of three production sharing contracts with the Government of Mongolia. Block XX has an area of 10,340 km(2) in the far eastern part of the country, and Blocks IV and V have an area of 28,900 km2 and 21,100 km2, respectively, in the southwest part of the country.

Petro Matad Limited is incorporated in the Isle of Man under company number 001483V. Its registered office is at 6(th) Floor, Victory House, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 1EQ.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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February 13, 2018 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)