Somalilandsun- Ophir Energy PLC Monday said it secured a rig for its West African drilling campaign, set to start in the first quarter of 2014.
FTSE 250 company Ophir said the deep-water drill ship would commence in Gabon in early February, with three locations more or less settled upon already, though Ophir said further details of the sequence will follow.
Ophir also said it is set to withdraw from Madagascar after informing the government of its intention of give up its interest and operatorship in the Marovaoay Block. Ophir also said it reduced its stake in its Somaliland project to just 25% from 75%.
“We are pleased to have secured a rig that enables our 2014 West African drilling programme to commence in early February. This programme will run in parallel with our ongoing drilling activities in East Africa using the Deepsea Metro I drillship and means we now have confirmed rig slots secured for our next twelve months of drilling,” Chief Executive Nick Cooper said in a statement.
“We have also continued to rationalise the portfolio to focus resources on our core, material assets; recently exiting or scaling back our positions in Congo, Madagascar and Somaliland,” Cooper said.
Ophir shares were Monday quoted at 345 pence, up 9.2 pence, or 2.7%.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
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