Operations and Corporate Update
SDX Energy Inc. (TSXV, AIM: SDX), the North Africa focused oil and gas company, provides its 2019 operational outlook and advises of its intention to delist from the TSXV in conjunction with a move of its corporate residence of the Group’s holding company to the UK from Canada.
Morocco (75% Working Interest, Operator)
• The Gharb Centre 3D seismic acquisition undertaken in H2 2018 has now been processed and an initial interpretation completed. The data quality is excellent and as a result, multiple leads and prospects have been identified. An inversion of the dataset will now take place after which a ranking and selection exercise will be undertaken to determine which prospects will be chosen for the 2019 drilling campaign. • Planning for a 12 well campaign has begun with drilling set to commence in late Q3/early Q4 2019 and complete during H1 2020. • During this campaign the LNB-1 and LMS-1 wells in Lalla Mimouna, originally drilled in 2018, will be retested, with the remainder of the programme’s targets coming from the recently acquired Gharb Centre 3D seismic. • It is anticipated that three wells from the 12 well programme will be completed and connected in 2019. The 2019 total gross capex is expected to be approximately US$10 million with SDX’s share being approximately US$8 million. Out of this US$8.0 million, US$6.0 million relates to the three planned wells and US$2.0 million relates to the Company’s share of facilities and field maintenance capex. • SDX is targeting gross production of 9-11 MMscf/d of conventional natural gas sales in 2019.
Egypt - Meseda Concession (50% Working Interest, Non-Operator)
• 2019 gross production guidance of 4,000-4,200 bopd. • The operator plans to drill two wells in H1 2019. One well in Rabul which will continue to develop the discovery area and one development location in the Meseda field. • The operator also plans to replace up to five electrical submersible pumps (“ESPs”) in the wider Meseda area and upgrade water handling capabilities at the field facilities. • Gross capex in 2019 is expected to be approximately US$8 million (US$4 million net to SDX of which US$1.6 million relates to the two planned wells and US$2.4 million relates to ESP replacements and the facilities upgrade).
Egypt - North West Gemsa Concession (50% Working Interest, Non-Operator)
• 2019 gross production guidance of 3,400-3,600 boepd. • The operator is planning to complete up to 10 workovers and carry out infrastructure maintenance, but not drill any additional wells. • As the field is now fully developed, gross capex in 2019 is expected to be approximately US$4 million (US$2 million net to SDX).
Egypt - South Disouq Concession (55% Working Interest, Operator)
• During H1 2019, SDX will complete construction of the Central Processing Facility, the 10km export pipeline and the tie-ins for the four existing production wells. • First gas is targeted for mid-2019, at a gross plateau production rate of between 50-60 MMscf/d with the conventional natural gas being sold to the State at a price of US$2.85/Mcf. • Prospect inventory for future drilling is expected to increase with the interpretation of the recently acquired 170km2 of 3D seismic in the southern section of the concession. • The Company is planning to drill two further exploration wells in 2019, with multiple additional conventional gas prospects and a conventional oil prospect also identified for future drilling. • Gross capex in 2019 is expected to be approximately US$40.0 million (US$22.0 million net to SDX of which approximately US$18.5 million relates to the South Disouq development activities and US$3.5 million relates to the two planned exploration wells).
Egypt - South Ramadan Concession (12.75% Working Interest, Non-Operator)
• The Company continues to review technical data from the recently announced SRM-3 well result and will provide further updates to the market in due course.
Cash and Working Capital Highlights and Outlook
• In Q4 2018, the Company recovered approximately US$4.5 million1 of backdated Egyptian receivables and paid approximately US$1.0 million of South Disouq 3D seismic costs and US$1.7 million of Morocco 3D seismic costs. • SDX subsequently ended the year with approximately US$17 million1 of cash and no debt1. The Company also has additional liquidity available by way of an undrawn US$10.0 million credit facility for Morocco with the EBRD. • In 2019, the Company will look to make further reductions in its backdated receivables balances.
Notes 1 Unaudited
Corporate Update • Following the Company’s dual listing on AIM in May 2016, the Company has seen its investor base move increasingly towards the UK, with limited institutional support from the Canadian market. The Company has found UK investors to be more receptive to and active in exploration and production companies with an African focus, and therefore are more suited to support companies such as SDX. • Given this, the Company has been reviewing its corporate structure and, as part of this review and subject to shareholder and court approval, plans to relocate its corporate residence from Canada to the UK with a group reorganisation and delist from the TSXV. It is expected that this process will be completed in Q2 2019 and will result in meaningful annual savings in administrative costs, management time and a more tax efficient corporate structure.
Paul Welch, President & CEO of SDX Energy, commented:
“We are pleased to provide an update on our operational outlook for 2019, which is set to be a landmark year for the Company. Looking ahead, there are a number of important milestones that we intend to meet across the portfolio, which have the potential to deliver significant value for shareholders.
In Egypt, a 10 well workover programme is set to commence at North West Gemsa and further drilling opportunities at Meseda means that we now expect to grow gross production from this asset in 2019. At South Disouq, completing the Central Processing Facility and achieving first gas from the licence will be a landmark event for SDX. We continue to believe that South Disouq contains considerable upside potential and we look forward to updating the market on further operational progress on the licence in due course. We are also excited to start the 12 well drilling campaign in Morocco in the second half of the year, given the significant drilling success we achieved with our drilling programme last year.