Hibiscus, Pacific Oil Awarded Concession Offshore Egypt

Hibiscus Petroleum Berhad is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Gulf Hibiscus Limited, has been awarded the South East Ras El Ush concession (Block 2) in Egypt by the Ganoub El-Wadi Petroleum Holding Company, an entity of the Ministry of Petroleum, Arab Republic of Egypt.

The award was made pursuant to the successful submission of a bid by Gulf Hibiscus, together with its partner, Pacific Oil Limited (“Pacific Oil”), for a joint equal ownership of the concession. Pacific Oil will be the operator of the concession, to leverage on its management team’s experience in Egypt.

Block 2 is an offshore exploration block located in the southern Gulf of Suez, the most prolific petroleum province in Egypt. The block covers an area of 68 square kilometres with water depth of up to 75 metres, and is surrounded by development leases.

Block 2 also contains the discovered West Ashrafi field, which is included in the above Award of Concession, and may be developed with a production tie-in to the nearby existing onshore infrastructures. Two wells previously drilled in the West Ashrafi field had tested commercial oil and gas.

The award is subject to the execution of a definitive agreement. Gulf Hibiscus’ financial exposure to undertake the minimum work commitment is estimated to be approximately USD8 million over the first 4 years (first exploration phase).