• Domerian carbonate primary target penetrated supporting pre-drill play concept
  • 50 metre interval under petrophysical and petrographic review
  • 100 metres below crest of Domerian carbonate bank culmination
• Helium show above primary target
• Never before seen 30 metre good quality gross sand below Domerian
• MOU-5 drilled and logged in 10 days within budget
• Well suspended to allow for future re-entry
• Forward plan is 3D seismic acquisition through a farmout process

Predator Oil & Gas Holdings, the Jersey-based Oil and Gas Company with near-term hydrocarbon operations and production focussed on Morocco and Trinidad has announced an update on the preliminary MOU-5 drilling results in the Guercif Licence onshore Morocco.

Initial drilling results

• MOU-5 was successfully drilled within pre-drill budget forecast to the planned target depth and logged in 10 days.
• The top of the Domerian carbonate primary target was encountered significantly deeper than prognosed due to the presence of mobilised salt above. Encouragingly this increased the thickness and potential effectiveness of the topseal.
• Good quality resistivity and sonic wireline logs were acquired over the top 50 meters of the Domerian carbonate.
• This zone will be further evaluated by a petrographic study of well cutting samples to establish the relationship of the Domerian carbonate section penetrated downdip by MOU-5 to the main development and culmination of the carbonate bank to the northwest of the well.
• The helium chromatograph registered a 1557 ppm helium show 16 metres above the top of the Domerian carbonate. This has been correlated probably with the presence of a flat-lying fault connecting to the area of salt diapiric activity to the east of the well.
• Post-well evaluation of the MOU-5 structure on the 2D seismic line through the well  shows that MOU-5 is located approximately 100 metres below the culmination of the Domerian carbonate bank to the northwest of the well.
• Below the Domerian carbonate MOU-5 unexpectedly encountered approximately 30 metres of good quality gross sand that had never been seen before in the Guercif Basin.

Forward Plan

• The MOU-5 well has been suspended to allow for a re-entry at a later date and Star Valley Rig 101 has been released but will remain stacked at the MOU-5 location.
• Data from MOU-5 will be analysed and incorporated in a new "Jurassic Project" that will focus on the core area of the Domerian structure to the northwest of MOU-5 structure.
• The presence of the Domerian carbonate has now been proven but 3D seismic will be necessary to characterize the carbonate reservoir in the area.  A farmout process will be initiated for the 3D seismic acquisition.

Location of the Guercif Petroleum Agreement onshore Morocco (Source: Predator)

Paul Griffiths, Chief Executive Officer of Predator, commented:
"The results of the MOU-5 drilling programme have unlocked a new Jurassic play-opening trend never before tested in the Guercif Basin. A  helium show has provided the impetus to further assess the helium potential of the MOU-5 structure.

Confirmation of our pre-drill play concept and seismic inversion modelling work based on  limited 2D seismic data allows for the acquisition of more focussed  additional  seismic data to clarify the updip potential.

Penetration of a new, good quality sandstone interval  below the primary target was  unexpected and provides a new target in the basin.

The way forward from this point on is to evaluate the data from the well and then to seek a farminee to join the Jurassic Project. The MOU-5 well has confirmed that the large MOU-5 structure has  to be further investigated based on new seismic data. 

We are very confident, following the MOU-5 drilling results, that a potential farminee will recognise the value proposition assignable to the Jurassic Project

Rationalisation and monetisation must be the drivers to support shareholder value during 2025, which promises to be a particularly volatile year, potentially dominated by trade wars.

We can focus now on ramping up our Trinidad production in 2025 and completing an additional  rigless testing programme for MOU-3 for the shallowest sand encountered in the well and not yet evaluated for a potential CNG initial development option.

Lastly, I would like to congratulate our Drilling Team and Country Manager for delivering the MOU-5 drilling project on schedule, within budget, without incident,  and in a manner that satisfied all of our pre-drill geological objectives. Simplifying last year our management structure and improving internal communications with our project teams has delivered the drilling performance that we had hoped for and has saved costs."

KeyFacts Energy: Predator Oil & Gas Morocco country profile