REG - Afentra PLC - Block 3/05 Drilling Update

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RNS Number : 5630Y  Afentra PLC  30 March 2026

30(th) March 2026

 

AFENTRA PLC

 

Update on Block 3/05 Drilling Programme

Rig Opportunity to Accelerate Block 3/05 Drilling

 

Afentra plc ("Afentra" or the "Company") (AIM: AET), the upstream oil and gas
company focused on acquiring mature production and development assets in
Africa, is pleased to provide an update on the planned Block 3/05 drilling
programme, offshore Angola.

 

A rig opportunity provided by Sonangol has allowed an acceleration of the
planned 2026 drilling programme on Block 3/05 offshore Angola. The Borr Grid
jackup rig is currently under contract to Sonangol and the Block 3/05 Joint
Venture partners have signed a commercial agreement with Sonangol to use the
rig for the planned Block 3/05 well programme (the "2026 Drilling Agreement").

 

Highlights

·      Accelerated Two-Well Programme: The Block 3/05 Joint Venture has
signed a commercial agreement with Sonangol to utilise the Borr Grid jack-up
rig, which is currently under contract to Sonangol, accelerating the planned
two-well drilling programme.

·      Spud Date Anticipated in Coming Days: The Pacassa SW exploration
well is anticipated to spud in the coming days, marking Afentra's transition
into the execution phase of its organic growth strategy.

·      Deferred Funding Structure: The two-well programme will be
financed by Sonangol, with costs recovered from future incremental production
revenues from the wells being drilled. The programme is therefore not expected
to impact Afentra's 2026 cash capex.

·      Significant Production and Resource Potential: The programme
targets a potential gross production uplift of around 9,000 bopd and will help
define the material upside potential in the Pacassa SW area (up to 70 mmbo
recoverable) and the Impala field (up to 50 mmbo recoverable).

 

Drilling Programme Details

The accelerated programme will commence with the Pacassa SW well, which is
expected to have a drilling duration of 80 to 90 days. The second well in the
programme will be either a Pacassa SW injection well or the Impala-2
development well, with the decision dependent on the outcome of the initial
Pacassa SW well and operational preparedness.

 

Pacassa SW is a currently un-drilled fault block adjacent to the prolific
Pacassa field which has the potential to contain up to 210 mmbbls of oil in
place. The well will be drilled from the Pacassa F4 platform which in the
event of a successful outcome will allow the well to be completed and
connected to the existing production infrastructure. A successful outcome will
also provide the opportunity to define the full development of the Pacassa SW
area of up to 70mmbo recoverable resources

 

Impala-2 will be drilled from the Impala wellhead platform into the Impala
field around 1000m from the existing Impala-1 production well. The well will
assist in defining the upside potential of the field which could contain up to
200mmbo of oil in place. Upon completion the well will be connected to the
existing production infrastructure. The outcome will also assist in defining
the optimum Impala field development which has up to 50mmbo of incremental
recoverable resources.

 

As part of the commercial agreement to utilise the rig Sonangol will finance
the planned two well programme with the deferred capex being recovered by
Sonangol from future incremental production revenues from the wells being
drilled. The accelerated well programme is therefore not expected to impact
Afentra's 2026 cash capex.

 

A short supporting presentation has been uploaded to the Afentra website:
Afentra Drilling Update
(https://wp-afentra-2025.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/media/2026/03/2026.03-Afentra-Drilling-Update.pdf)

 

Paul McDade, Chief Executive Officer of Afentra plc, commented:

"The ability to accelerate our drilling programme is a pivotal moment for
Afentra, marking a clear transition to the execution phase of our organic
growth strategy. This opportunity is a direct result of the strong,
collaborative partnership we have with Sonangol and the Joint Venture. The
funding structure agreed with Sonangol allows us to fast-track the unlocking
of significant potential value from both the Pacassa SW area and the Impala
field without impacting our 2026 cash capex. This programme is designed to
efficiently convert resources into production, growing volumes through our
existing infrastructure and delivering tangible value for our shareholders.
Crucially, it will also provide invaluable data to de-risk and define future
prospectivity across the wider Block 3/05 area, optimising our long-term
development plan."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For further information contact:

Afentra plc +44 (0)20 7405 4133

Paul McDade, CEO

Anastasia Deulina, CFO

Christine Wootliff, Investor Relations

 

Burson Buchanan (Financial PR) +44 (0)20 7466 5000

Bobby Morse

Barry Archer

George Pope

 

Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker) +44 (0) 20
7710 7600

Callum Stewart

Simon Mensley

Ashton Clanfield

 

Tennyson Securities (Joint Broker) +44 (0)20 7186 9033

Peter Krens

 

About Afentra

Afentra plc (AIM: AET) is an upstream oil and gas company focused on
opportunities in Africa. The Company's purpose is to support a responsible
energy transition in Africa by establishing itself as a credible partner for
divesting IOCs and host governments. Offshore Angola, in the Lower Congo
Basin, Afentra holds a 30% non-operated interest in the producing Block 3/05,
a 21.33% non-operated interest in Block 3/05A, and a 40% operated interest in
Block 3/24 - both Blocks 3/05A and 3/24 are located adjacent to Block 3/05.
Onshore Angola, in the western part of the onshore Kwanza Basin, Afentra holds
45% non-operated interests in the prospective Blocks KON15 and KON19. Afentra
also holds a 40% non-operated interest in the offshore exploration Block 23 in
the Kwanza Basin.

More information is available at www.afentraplc.com
(https://url.uk.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/iIb8CM8yMs25LVskhnS8t1eC/)  or by
visiting the Afentra's Curation Showcase
(https://url.uk.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/m1Q9CNkzNfZNQ5Hji5SyCzDb) .

 

Glossary

 2C Resources  those quantities of petroleum estimated, as of a given date, to be potentially
               recoverable from known accumulations by application of development projects
               but which are not currently considered to

               be commercially recoverable due to one or more contingencies. Contingent
               resources are a class of discovered recoverable resources
 2P Reserves   those additional reserves which analysis of geoscience and engineering data
               indicate are less likely to be recovered than Proved Reserves but more certain
               to be recovered than Possible Reserves. It is equally likely that actual
               remaining quantities recovered will be greater than or less than the sum of
               the estimated Proved plus 2P. In this context, when probabilistic methods are
               used, there should be at least a 50% probability that the actual quantities
               recovered will equal or exceed the 2P estimate
 bcf           Billion cubic feet
 bopd          Barrels of oil per day
 mmbbls        Million barrels
 mmbo          Million barrels of oil
 mmboe         Million barrels of oil equivalent

 

Standard

Estimates of reserves and resources have been prepared in accordance with the
June 2018 Petroleum Resources Management System ("PRMS") as the standard for
classification and reporting.

 

Technical Information

The technical information contained in this announcement has been reviewed and
approved by Robin Rindfuss, Head of Sub-Surface at Afentra plc. Robin Rindfuss
has over 30 years of experience in oil and gas exploration, production and
development. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and
holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc) and a Bachelor of Science Honours (BSc Hons)
in Physics and Mathematics from the University of Cape Town.

 

Inside Information

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of article 7 of
Regulation 2014/596/EU (which forms part of domestic UK law pursuant to the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018) and as subsequently amended by the
Financial Services Act 2021 ('UK MAR'). Upon publication of this announcement,
this inside information (as defined in UK MAR) is now considered to be in the
public domain. For the purposes of UK MAR, the person responsible for
arranging for the release of this announcement on behalf of Afentra is Paul
McDade, Chief Executive Officer.

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