LONDON, March 30 - Dana Petroleum said it had made a significant gas find off the north African coast as it posted a 34 percent rise in annual pretax profit to 191.4 million pounds on Monday.
Dana said it estimated that reserves in a well at Anchois in the Tanger-Larache licence, about 40 kilometres from Morocco, would be about 100 billion cubic feet.
It said it had decided to suspend the well while it decided whether to further explore Tanger Larache, in which it has a 15 percent stake.
"This gas discovery is very important as it is the first well in this large under-explored area," Dana said in a statement. "The other prospects in the licence have been significantly improved by the results of the Anchois well."
Dana said in a separate statement that it expected the group's working interest production for 2009 to average between 43,000 to 47,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
It said 17 exploration wells were on track for completion in 2009 in the UK, Norway, Egypt and Morocco, with seven of the wells already drilled during the first quarter.
Dana said it was planning capital investment in 2009 of about 235 million pounds across existing fields and licences.
Dana said it estimated that reserves in a well at Anchois in the Tanger-Larache licence, about 40 kilometres from Morocco, would be about 100 billion cubic feet.
It said it had decided to suspend the well while it decided whether to further explore Tanger Larache, in which it has a 15 percent stake.
"This gas discovery is very important as it is the first well in this large under-explored area," Dana said in a statement. "The other prospects in the licence have been significantly improved by the results of the Anchois well."
Dana said in a separate statement that it expected the group's working interest production for 2009 to average between 43,000 to 47,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
It said 17 exploration wells were on track for completion in 2009 in the UK, Norway, Egypt and Morocco, with seven of the wells already drilled during the first quarter.
Dana said it was planning capital investment in 2009 of about 235 million pounds across existing fields and licences.
