Ophir Makes Gas Discovery at Kamba-1 Well in Tanzania's Offshore Block 4

Ophir Energy plc (Ophir or the Company) announced Thursday the Kamba-1 discovery and an update on its drilling program in Tanzania.

Block 4: Kamba-1(& 1ST) Gas Discoveries

The Kamba-1 well in Block 4 has resulted in gas discoveries of 1.03 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) in the Kamba and Fulusi prospects. BG operates the Block 4 license and Ophir holds a 20 percent interest.

The well was drilled by the Deepsea Metro I (UDW drillship) in a water depth of 4,524 feet (1,379 meters) to a total depth of 13,021 feet (3,969 meters) with the twin objectives of intersecting the Paleocene-aged Fulusi prospect (a northern extension of the earlier Pweza discovery) and the primary target of the Cretaceous-aged Kamba prospect.

The Kamba-1 well encountered a 50 foot (18 meter) gross gas column in the Fulusi prospect and, after sidetracking to test the Kamba prospect, the Kamba-1ST well established another gas column of 459 feet (140 meters) with high net to gross, good quality, reservoir sands. The well has encountered better quality reservoir sands than prognosed pre-drill and further analysis is expected to confirm discovered volumes somewhat in excess of the pre-drill estimated mean (2C) recoverable resources of 1.03 Tcf, comprised of 650 billion cubic feet (Bcf) in Kamba and 380 Bcf in Fulusi.

The Kamba-1 discovery is the Joint Venture's 16th consecutive discovery well in Blocks 1, 3 and 4. This discovery, plus recent volume updates on the earlier discoveries, increases Ophir's estimate of the total Block 1, 3 and 4 mean (2C) recoverable resource to 17.1 Tcf. The Kamba-1 result provides critical mass for an LNG train to be supplied from the fields in Block 4 and also takes the overall resource volume to the threshold for a future potential third LNG train to be from Blocks 1 and 4.

The Kamba-1 well represents the Joint Venture's final well in this current drilling campaign. The Deepsea Metro I drillship will remain in Tanzania and now moves to drill two operated wells for Ophir in the East Pande and Block 7 PSCs.

East Pande license: Tende-1 Well Spud

Ophir will imminently spud the Tende-1 well on the East Pande license. Ophir operates the East Pande license and holds a 70 percent interest, the East Pande PSC is located between the coast and the significant gas discoveries in Blocks 1 and 2.The Tende-1 well is on trend with the recent Taachui-1 discovery in Block 1 at a water depth of 2,230 feet (680 meters) and will be drilled to a planned total depth of 13,779 feet (4,200 meters). The well is targeting gas in a lower Cretaceous sandstone reservoir with a mean prospective resource estimate of 2.38 Tcf at a 15 percent chance of success. Drilling operations are expected to take approximately 35 days.