Predator Oil & Gas shares plunge 40% after disappointing Morocco well tests
Oil group Predator Oil & Gas saw its shares fall nearly 40% in London on Friday, October 30, after disappointing tests at its Guercif gas well in Morocco. Just 16 days earlier, the company had announced encouraging drilling results.
Predator Oil & Gas shares ended trading on October 30 at 0.80 pence, down from 1.33 pence the previous day. The 39.85% plunge came after the release of results from the MOU-6 well in eastern Morocco. Investors heavily punished the stock following the news, according to the London Stock Exchange data.
The contrast with the company’s earlier announcements is striking. On October 14, Predator said it had completed drilling to a depth of 950 metres. Crews had passed through a geological formation 21.2 metres thick, compared with 13.2 metres in a nearby well. The discovery matched forecasts made before work began.
On Bladi.net : Gas in Morocco: Predator begins drilling at Guercif to determine whether commercial production is possible
The decisive test remained: bringing gas to the surface. Technicians perforated nearly 20 metres of rock, between depths of 825.7 and 845.5 metres. But the tests produced no gas flow from the reservoir. Only diesel and brine used during operations were recovered.
Well suspended as team heads to the Caribbean
In its official statement of October 30, Predator put forward one explanation: the rock may be insufficiently permeable and not saturated enough with gas to allow it to flow. Analyses also show less favourable characteristics than those observed in several previous wells.
“We are naturally disappointed,” said Paul Griffiths, the group’s chief executive. The MOU-6 well has been suspended, with the possibility of resuming work to reach a deeper formation.
After six wells on the Guercif licence, Predator now wants to find a partner able to fund further exploration and the necessary studies. The group is considering, in particular, deepening the MOU-5 well to search for gas and helium.
Meanwhile, its operations team is being transferred to Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean to prepare for drilling Snowcap-3, now its next operational priority.
