CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - June 1, 2015) - Serinus Energy Inc. (TSX:SEN)(WARSAW:SEN) ("Serinus", " SEN" or the " Company"), announces that the Sabria Field (" Sabria") in central Tunisia has been shut-in due to local protests that blocked roads to the Central Processing Facility ("CPF"). Serinus, through its wholly owned subsidiary Winstar Tunisia B.V. ("Winstar") holds a 45% working interest in Sabria and is the operator, with the remaining 55% held by Entreprise Tunisienne d'Activités Pétrolières ("ETAP"), the state owned oil company. Prior to the shut-down, the Sabria Field was producing approximately 700 boe/d net to Serinus (1,550 boe/d gross).
The protests initially targeted the El Franig Field immediately to the northwest of Sabria, operated by another company. While the protestors concentrated on shutting-down and evacuating El Franig, Winstar staff were able to safely shut-in the wells and facilities at Sabria, preventing the potential damage that may have occurred had the shut down been effected in an uncontrolled manner. The protesters then moved on to the Sabria property and insisted that most Winstar personnel stop work and leave the CPF. After discussion with the protestors, most staff were evacuated from the CPF, leaving three Company employees to maintain watch together with a number of Tunisian military personnel.
The protests are against the lack of development, investment and job creation in the area and not specifically directed at the Company. Winstar has appealed to the Ministers of Industry, the Interior, and Defence, as well as the Governor of Kebili province, the chairman of ETAP, the Direction Generale de l'Energie and the Tunisian Prime Minister requesting their assistance so that the Sabria Field can be restarted.
The Company is not at this time able to provide guidance as to when production may resume at the Sabria Field.
Tim Elliott, President and Chief Executive Officer of Serinus said "Since acquiring Winstar the Company has made significant investments in the towns neighboring the Sabria field which have included fixing local schools and medical clinics. While we understand there is a level of frustration since the revolution, forcing the closure of producing fields will in the short term not help the situation and in the long term will damage the image of Tunisia and deter much needed foreign investment. Our top priority now is the safety of our staff, the facilities and the protestors themselves, and to that end, we hope that the Tunisian authorities will move to end these occupations as soon as possible. We are also immensely proud of and grateful to the Winstar employees in Sabria who managed to safely secure the field and facilities. Their dedication and courage has helped to moderate a potentially hazardous situation."
About Serinus
Serinus is an international upstream oil and gas exploration and production company that owns and operates projects in Ukraine, Tunisia, and Romania.
For further information, please refer to the Serinus website (www.serinusenergy.com).
Translation: This news release has been translated into Polish from the English original.
Forward-looking Statements This release may contain forward-looking statements made as of the date of this announcement with respect to future activities that either are not or may not be historical facts. Although the Company believes that its expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date hereof, any potential results suggested by such statements involve risk and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Various factors that could impair or prevent the Company from completing the expected activities on its projects include that the Company's projects experience technical and mechanical problems, there are changes in product prices, failure to obtain regulatory approvals, the state of the national or international monetary, oil and gas, financial, political and economic markets in the jurisdictions where the Company operates and other risks not anticipated by the Company or disclosed in the Company's published material. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties and actual results may vary materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statement. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements in this announcement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this announcement, unless required by law.