Block 3/05 Drilling Update

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

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 [phone]

Paul McDade, CEO

Anastasia Deulina, CFO

Christine Wootliff, Investor Relations

Burson Buchanan (Financial PR) [phone]

Bobby Morse

Barry Archer

George Pope

Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker) [phone]

Callum Stewart

Simon Mensley

Ashton Clanfield

Tennyson Securities (Joint Broker) [phone]

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 or by visiting the Afentra's Curation Showcase.

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.

 

END