Gulfsands Petroleum fails to secure new Fes extension

16th Oct 2015 13:30

(ShareCast News) - Gulfsands Petroleum has not been able to secure an extension for its Fes Petroleum agreement in Morocco, which expired on 24 September.The AIM-listed oil and gas exploration company with activities in Syria, Morocco, Tunisia and Colombia, said it had submitted a request for a six-month extension to Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM), the state oil company of the Republic of Morocco.Gulfsands said ONHYM has called in the $5m bank guarantee held for the performance of the agreed minimum work programme and as a result, $5m of restricted cash has been forfeited.Chairman Alastair Beardsall said: "We are disappointed not to have been given an extension to progress our discussions with potential farm-in partners."The geology within the Fes area is very complex; only recently have we been able to interpret the re-processed 2D seismic data acquired in early 2014 and begin the process of identifying potential drill-ready prospects, unfortunately we have run out of time to continue the exploration programme."At 1337 BST, Gulfsands shares were down 13% at 4.2575p.