Completion of Madagascar Block 1101 drilling and coring operations

London, 16 December 2014

Afren plc ("Afren" or the "Company"), operator of Block 1101 onshore Madagascar, is pleased to announce the completion of its drilling and coring operations and the discovery of oil in two boreholes drilled on the block.

A total of four strategic locations on Block 1101, which measures some 11,200 km² (2.8 million acres), were successfully drilled and cored to an aggregate depth of 2,000m (6,500ft) with approximately 1,760m (5,720ft) of core samples recovered.  Drilling at each of the locations successfully completed the respective technical objectives to assess specific aspects of the Block's petroleum systems.

Two core holes were drilled to depths of 650m (2,112ft) and 500m (1,625ft) adjacent to the 1902 coal borehole (Ankaramy-1) which had reportedly encountered "hydrocarbon shows".  Cores recovered from both locations indicated the presence of hydrocarbons and potentially good reservoir quality over multiple zones.

Early indications provide further evidence of at least three different source rocks working across the Block in Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous zones.  Further detailed analysis of the cores will be undertaken in Q1 2015 to confirm the nature and extent of the hydrocarbons.

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/8166Z_-2014-12-15.pdf

Toby Hayward, Interim Chief Executive of Afren, commented:

"We have made good progress on Block 1101 with encouraging results indicating the presence of oil over several zones.  This underscores the high quality of our East African portfolio and we look forward to working with our partner (Oyster Oil and Gas Limited) to determine the nature and extent of the discovery."

Notes to Editors

Afren is an independent upstream oil and gas exploration and production company listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the Financial Times Stock Exchange Index of the leading 250 UK listed companies. Afren has a portfolio of assets spanning the full cycle E&P value chain. Afren is currently producing from its assets in Nigeria and the Kurdistan region of Iraq and holds further exploration interests in Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Congo Brazzaville, Kenya, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Seychelles, Tanzania and South Africa. For more information please refer to www.afren.com.