OilVoice - GB Petroleum Plc Awarded Acreage in Morocco

GB Petroleum Plc Awarded Acreage in Morocco

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

GB Petroleum Plc announces that its local branch – GBP Exploration Maroc - has been awarded three exploration blocks in Morocco. Two of the blocks - Agadir Maritime I and Agadir Maritime II - are Exploration Permits and lie offshore. The third block - Ouest Souss - is an onshore Reconnaissance Licence and lies immediately to the east of the new offshore permits. The combined size of the three blocks exceeds 7,500 sq. km and they are all situated in a prospective area to the north of the undeveloped offshore Cap Juby oil field and south of the onshore producing oil and gas fields of the Essaouira area.

Mike Hassell, Chairman of GB Petroleum Plc said “We are pleased to be awarded this acreage and are confident that this marks the start of a long relationship with the Moroccan government. This acreage is part of our strategy to assemble a quality portfolio of opportunities in Europe and North Africa.”

All three blocks will initially be evaluated by the reprocessing of existing seismic data, interpretation of all available geophysical and geological data and the undertaking of new technical studies. The future work programme for the offshore permits includes the acquisition of new seismic data and the drilling of one well.

The signing ceremony for the permits was held in Rabat, Morocco on January 25th between Mme Amina Benkhadra, Director General of the Moroccan National Oil Company (ONYHM) and Bob Lambert, Chief Executive of GB Petroleum Plc. The ceremony was also attended by Mr Charles Gray, the British Ambassador to Morocco, and representative of the Ministries of Energy & Mining and Finance. Dave Hanley, who attended the ceremony as the Branch Manager of GBP Exploration Maroc said “Our initial technical work shows this area having real potential and we are excited for the future of GBP. This award is the first of several other opportunities that we have under review at the moment, both in Morocco and in adjacent countries”.