Sound Energy might be selling its Morocco assets after disappointing gas test

British upstream gas company Sound Energy PLC might be selling its Morocco assets after announcing that its recent discovery had disappointing results, Proactive Investors reported on Wednesday.

Indeed, the company revealed, earlier this week, that its Morocco shares fell -31.7% at 11.6, indicating that the TE-10 well in Tendrara «failed to yield commercial volumes of gas in tests».

Sound Energy told investors that TE-10 well result «does not diminish Sound Energy's overall assessment of its Eastern Morocco acreage». However, it announced that it is considering «whether a sale of the East Morocco acreage would be a preferred option ahead of the final investment decision for the Tendrara TE-5 production area».

Meanwhile, the gas firm suspended plans to drill, a third well, as part of a marketing exercise. «We are now approaching the final stages of Sound Energy's strategy to drill a bold exploration program in Morocco and then explore options for early monetization», Sound chief executive James Parsons said.

«Should the board receive the right price for the company's East Morocco acreage, our intention would be to return the net proceeds of any divestment to Sound Energy shareholders in the most efficient manner possible», he concluded.

The firm will be adopting a new program to reduce costs, including the reduction of operating expenses, staff and staff costs.

Earlier in May, Sound Energy said that its shares rose after it told investors that it received an offer from the Moroccan government

Sound Energy, which has three assets in the Kingdom (Tendrara, Anoual, and Sidi Mokhtar), said that a non-binding offer submitted by Morocco's Office National de L’Electricité et de L’Eau Potable (ONEE) aims to purchase its Tendrara’s gas.