Circle Oil () was an

oil and gas exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth using petroleum geology. Exploration methods Vis ...

and production company based in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

. Its operations, all of which were in North Africa, specifically

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

and

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, initially focused on oil exploration but expanded to include production. Circle Oil entered

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

in January 2017 and sold its Egypt and Moroccan assets to SDX Energy to pay creditors. In September 2017 it began

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...

Company regions

Morocco

Circle Oil Maroc Ltd. (COML), a wholly owned subsidiary of Circle Oil Plc signed an Exploration and Exploitation Agreement with ONHYM (Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (the State oil company) for the Sebou Permit in June 2006 (original area 296 km2, now 134 km2 after relinquishments). The permit was situated in the Rharb Basin. The Permit shareholding was COML 75% and ONHYM 25%. Circle was the operator of the license. Production was decided by sales contracts, the daily maxima in the region gross per day at

standard conditions Standard temperature and pressure (STP) are standard sets of conditions for experimental measurements to be established to allow comparisons to be made between different sets of data. The most used standards are those of the International Union o ...

. Circle completed its third drilling campaign in Morocco in 2015. Ten wells were drilled, 6 in the Sebou permit and 4 in Lalla Mimouna. Gas was discovered in both areas, with 6 of the ten wells yielding gas. In addition to its Moroccan drilling programme Circle also successfully built a 55 km gas pipeline from the Sebou permit to the Kenitra Industrial zone. All of Circle's Moroccan gas was sold domestically in Morocco and was transported through this pipeline from the license to the end users in Kenitra.

Egypt

Circle Oil’s acreage lay in the Gulf of Suez area. This basin covers approximately 19,000 km2. In early 2008 Circle Oil farmed into the North West Gemsa Block acquiring a 40% interest in the license from Premier Oil. Together they totaled around 82 km2 and were located roughly 300 km south of Cairo. The concessions were operated by a joint production company PetroAmir, whose partners include: EGPC, Zhen Hua (NPIC - 50% working interest and operator); Circle Oil Plc (40% working interest); and Sea Dragon Energy (10% working interest). Daily production from all Egyptian fields was around of 42° API oil and gross per day at standard conditions. Following production of through to the end of 2014, the 2P Gross Remaining Reserves were estimated in an independent Competent Person’s report to be

oil equivalent The tonne of oil equivalent (toe) is a unit of energy defined as the amount of energy released by burning one tonne of crude oil. It is approximately 42 gigajoules or 11.630 megawatt-hours, although as different crude oils have different calorific ...

of oil, gas, and recoverable liquids with oil equivalent net to Circle Oil.

Tunisia

Circle Oil Tunisia Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary of Circle Oil Plc.) held interests in two permits in Tunisia, the onshore Ras Marmour permit and the Mahdia permit offshore incorporating the Mahdia discovery. In August 2014, Circle announced a significant discovery at The El Mediouni well, or EMD-1 in the Mahdia permit. The well encountered very good light oil shows across 133 metres. The Company estimated that the likely recoverable resource was approximately . Circle subsequently added that it had been granted a six-month extension to the Mahdia permit to January 2015, and it has the right to make two further 3-year extensions by committing to drill at least one well in each period. The company indicated that it intended to seek a farm in partner with whom to develop the Mahdia discovery. Ras Marmour Permit was located in the south-east of Tunisia covering part of the Island of Djerba and south of the Gulf of Gabès. The permit covered 1,564 km² and was located in the vicinity of two significant hydrocarbon discoveries and a number of smaller ones. Circle Oil Tunisia held a 23% working interest in the permit. The operator and partner was Exxoil S A., a local Tunisian company. In addition to the two exploration permits, Circle also had an interest in the Beni Khalled production license in Tunisia. Under the terms of the farm in agreement with Exxoil SA, Circle Oil would acquire an initial 30% interest in the Licence in return for funding a 50 km² 3D seismic programme and one well. Historical production on the license has so far produced some and Circle estimates indicated the field had up to remaining to be produced.

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{Cite news, url=http://www.independent.ie/business/world/tullow-refocuses-in-tanzania-26769610.html, title=Tullow refocuses in Tanzania, first=Peter, last=Flanagan, newspaper=Irish Independent, date=9 September 2011, accessdate=26 October 2013 {{Cite news, url=http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/circle-lines-up-chairman-candidate-29581978.html, title=Circle lines up chairman candidate, first=Peter, last=Flanagan, newspaper=Irish Independent, date=16 September 2013, accessdate=26 October 2013 {{Cite news, url=http://www.rte.ie/news/business/2013/0902/471642-circle-oil-results/, title=Circle Oil reports 19% rise in half yearly revenues, publisher=RTÉ, date=2 September 2013, accessdate=26 October 2013 Companies of the Republic of Ireland Oil companies of the Republic of Ireland Defunct energy companies of the Republic of Ireland