AFR Afren

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RNS Number : 6472V

Afren PLC

17 January 2012

Afren plc (AFR LN)

Okoro East exploration well makes a significant new oil discovery offshore south east Nigeria - 2012 exploration campaign underway

London, 17 January 2012 - Afren plc ("Afren" or the "Company") announces that the Okoro East exploration well, offshore south east Nigeria, has made a new oil discovery having encountered 549 ft true vertical thickness (TVT) of net oil pay and 41 ft of net gas pay in excellent quality reservoir sands. The well result represents a successful start to Afren's 2012 exploration campaign that will see the Company participate in multiple wells across each of its core areas.

The Okoro East exploration well was spudded on 18 December 2011 and reached a total measured depth of 8,751 ft (8,016 ft true vertical depth), with the Transocean Adriatic lX jack-up drilling rig. The well has successfully encountered oil in the Tertiary reservoir sands equivalent to those that have been developed and are in production at the Okoro main field, in addition to the deeper previously unexplored reservoirs. The discovery of significant pay in the previously unexplored deeper zones opens up further prospectivity at similar levels on the main Okoro field and elsewhere on the block.

The objective of Afren and its partner Amni International Petroleum Development Company Ltd. ("Amni") was to explore a separate previously un-drilled structure located approximately 2 km east of the Okoro main field. Okoro East is in a similar structural setting with a fault sealed 3-way dip closure in Tertiary reservoir sands at equivalent intervals to the main Okoro Field. In addition, the Okoro East exploration well was targeting a deeper horst block structure, a play concept that had not been previously explored on the block. The prospect was mapped on good quality 3D seismic data.

Logging operations have been completed and the well is now being prepared for testing, after which Afren and its partner Amni will determine the optimal development of the discovery.

Osman Shahenshah, Chief Executive of Afren, commented:

"We are delighted to have made a new oil discovery offshore south east Nigeria in Afren's core producing area. The proximity of Okoro East to the existing producing Okoro field means that we are well positioned to efficiently monetise this discovery, both in terms of our detailed understanding of the subsurface and proximity to existing infrastructure. The well also opens up additional prospectivity on the block and is a very successful start to our 2012 exploration campaign. With the JS-2 exploration well currently drilling ahead in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, we look forward next to spudding the Nunya-1x (Cuda-2) exploration well offshore Ghana later this month."

 
 For further information contact: 
 Afren plc                           +44 20 7451 9700 
 Osman Shahenshah 
 Galib Virani 
 Pelham Bell Pottinger               +44 20 7337 1500 
 James Henderson 
 Mark Antelme 
 

Notes to Editors

Afren Plc

Afren is an independent upstream oil and gas exploration and production company listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange and constituent of the Financial Times Stock Exchange Index of the leading 250 UK listed companies. Afren has a portfolio of 31 assets across 12 countries spanning the full cycle E&P value chain. Afren is currently producing from its assets offshore Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire and holds further interests in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Ghana, Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Congo Brazzaville, the Joint Development Zone of Nigeria - Sao Tome & Principe, Kenya, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Seychelles, Tanzania and South Africa. For more information please refer to www.afren.com.

Weinman GeoScience

Afren and Amni were supported by Weinman GeoScience, a division of Global Geophysical Services. Founded in 1983, Weinman GeoScience provides consulting, seismic data processing, geophysical, geological, and engineering services to the energy industry.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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