London South East
Alliance News
Gulfsands Petroleum PLC on Monday said it has started drilling at the Dardara Southeast 1 well at the Rharb Centre Permit in northern Morocco and said it has completed the sale of its Gulf of Mexico assets.
Gulfsands said drilling has now started at the DRC-1 well, the second to be drilled based on seismic survey data gathered by Gulfsands last year.
The company expects drilling operations to be completed within 28 days and said, when these are completed, it has two further drilling locations in a ready state.
“We are very pleased that the company has re-commenced drilling operations in Morocco and look forward to seeing the results of this next well,” said Gulfsands Chief Executive Officer Mahdi Sajjad.
The company also said it has now completed the sale of its loss-making assets in the Gulf of Mexico to Hillcrest Resources Ltd. Gulfsands had said earlier this month that Canada’s Hillcrest will pay USD50,000 at closing and will assume all further reclamation and other obligations related to the Gulfsands Petroleum USA Inc business. This will include the estimated decommissioning costs over the life of the portfolio, with a net present value of around USD12 million.
Gulfsands shares were untraded on Monday morning, having last traded at 24.20 pence.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance