SDX Energy hails gas discovery at Moroccan well

North Africa focused oil and gas company SDX Energy announced on Friday that it has made a gas discovery on one of its Moroccan projects.

The discovery was made on the SAH-2 well at the Sebou project as drilling to a depth of 1,304 metres encountered conditions similar to those forecast but with a reservoir thickness that outstripped pre-drill expectations.

Drilling of SAH-2 also identified 5.2 meters of net conventional natural gas pay across two zones of the Guebbas and Hoot formations, which yielded an average porosity in the pay section of 33%.

The formations consisted of "favourable properties and consistent, low-impurity gas composition Methane," the company said in a statement.

Paul Welch, chief executive of SDX Energy, said: "This was also the first well in the Gharb basin that was successfully drilled using downhole directional tools which allowed us to penetrate the crest of two individual targets with a single well-bore. We will use these tools when drilling our next well, LNB-1, an exploration well in our Lalla Mimouna concession, for a similar reason."

The SAH-2 well was to undergo further testing as it is connected to the infrastructure network in place at the site, with further results due at the end of April.

"By successfully targeting the crests of specific horizons, we now have the ability to improve the recovery efficiency from individual wells. I look forward to updating all our stakeholders on the production testing results of the SAH-2 and the spud of the LNB-1 in due course," said Welch.

As of 0847 GMT, SDX Energy’s shares were up 3.68% at 47.95p.