Mazarine Energy B.V., a private international upstream oil and gas exploration and production company, is pleased to announce that its subsidiary, Mazarine Energy Tunisia B.V., and partner ETAP (Entreprise Tunisienne d’Activités Pétrolières) have discovered 38m of net oil-bearing reservoir in well Cat-1 well in the Zaafrane permit in central Tunisia. The main objective of well Cat-1 was to test the hydrocarbon potential of the Ordovician El Hamra and El Atchane Formations. Extensive logging and sampling proved the El Hamra and El Atchane sands to contain 19m and 19m of net pay respectively. During a production test, the Cat-1 well flowed, constrained by surface facilities, at a rate of 4,300 barrels of oil per day and 395,000 cubic meters of natural gas per day.

The Cat-1 well is the first well in a two-well drilling campaign. The Zaafrane permit spans an area of 5,168 square kilometres within a historically prolific oil- and gas producing region. Mazarine Energy is the operator of the Zaafrane permit, with ETAP and MEDEX as partners. The well was drilled by CTF (Compagnie Tunisienne de Forage) to a total depth of 3,950m.

“We are delighted to announce the first discovery in the Zaafrane permit. The Cat-1 well is not only a success in its own right; it also upgrades the resource potential of a string of prospects in this large permit, notably DGH-1, our next well in the sequence,” said Mazarine Energy Executive Chairman Edward van Kersbergen. “We look forward to the fast-track development of this discovery.”

About Mazarine Energy

Mazarine Energy is a subsurface-driven private oil and gas exploration and production company focused on early-stage exploration and field development. The company is currently active in North Africa, where it has a majority operating interest in an onshore license in central Tunisia and in Western Australia, where it is partnering in a consortium in the exploration and development of an onshore tight gas field in the North Perth Basin. Mazarine Energy is actively reviewing additional opportunities in Europe, North Africa, Asia and Australia.