Circle Oil reports the successful completion of a 2D marine seismic acquisition programme in the Mahdia Permit offshore Tunisia. A total of 500.75 kilometres of infill full fold 2D seismic data has been acquired by PGS Marine. The acquired data will now be sent for processing as a precursor to its interpretation and integration into the existing datasets for the area.

The Mahdia Permit is situated off the northern coast of Tunisia and covers an area of 3,780 square kilometres. Historically this and the surrounding area was successfully explored by Shell and Total resulting in discoveries and commercial oilfields such as Tazerka, Birsa, Oudna, Halk Al Menzel and Isis. Circle holds a 70% working interest in the permit with its partner Tethys Oil and Mining Inc. holding the remaining 30% interest. A commitment well must be drilled on the permit between now and mid 2012.

Commenting David Hough, CEO Circle Oil, said, "The onboard preliminary processing of the acquired data clearly shows the target sequences and we are very pleased to progress our studies in this prospective area. The integration of this new data will allow us to complete our mapping and prioritise the multiple undrilled prospects which have already been mapped from the existing datasets."

Tags: Circle Oil plc