DualEx Energy International Inc. is pleased to announce that it’s bid for the Bouhajla Exploration Block in Eastern onshore Tunisia has been approved by the Tunisian Ministry of Industry and Energy’s Comite Consultatif des Hydrocarbures. DualEx’s bid entails the issuance of a Production Sharing Contract (“PSC”) that would see DualEx undertake a minimum of 100 kilometres of new 2D seismic within the first two years of the term, and the drilling of a minimum of one exploration well within the succeeding two years. DualEx will hold 100% of the contractor share and would be the operator. The issuance of the PSC is subject to finalization of the detailed terms and Government ratification.

The Bouhajla Block lies in the western portion of the Pelagian Basin east of the North-South Axis, a major tectonic boundary in northeastern Tunisia. Approximately 275 line kilometers of 2D seismic of various vintages lie within the block boundary and from this data a number of structures have been identified at the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Abiod level including faulted anticlines, salt diapirs, and tilted fault blocks. The Abiod formation is a fractured chalk with significant flow capacity.

The eastern boundary of the 416 km2 Bouhajla Block lies 7 kilometres west of the prolific Sidi el Kilani field. Discovered in 1989, Sidi el Kilani is a well-documented faulted anticline that has produced (to date) approximately 47 million barrels of light gravity crude oil (410 API) from six producing wells in the Abiod formation. Production rates of up to 9300 barrels of oil per day have been observed in an individual wellbore at Sidi el Kilani.
Garry Hides, DualEx’s President and CEO commented, “We’re very pleased to have been awarded the Bouhajla Block. This Block will provide DualEx with an operated exploration project in an established hydrocarbon basin with significant potential. Proximity to the Sidi el Kilani field and the occurrence of similar structures on the Bouhajla Block makes for a compelling exploration project.”

DualEx Energy International Inc. is an oil and gas exploration company with a focus on the greater Mediterranean area. DualEx’s common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "DXE".