Gulfsands petroleum signs production sharing agreement in syria

Gulfsands Petroleum Ltd. announced on May 31 in Houston, Texas, that it had entered into a Production Sharing Agreement to explore for oil and natural gas in Syria. Gulfsands Petroleum and its partner, Devon Energy entered into the Agreement covering Block 26 in northeastern Syria with the Syrian Government and the Syrian Petroleum Company ("SPC"). Gulfsands Petroleum has a 20 percent participating interest while Devon Energy holds an 80 percent participating interest and is the operator.

Block 26 covers an area of more than 11,000 square kilometers, and includes oil production, processing, storage and transportation infrastructure that is currently used by SPC to produce approximately 120,000 barrels of oil per day from a series of large oil fields within Block 26.

During the four-year initial term of the Agreement, Gulfsands Petroleum and Devon Energy have committed to complete regional geologic and geophysical studies, acquire seismic data and drill four exploration wells. New field discoveries in Block 26 can be developed and produced through SPC's existing facilities to reduce development time and maximize economic efficiencies of the operation.

John P. Dorrier, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Gulfsands Petroleum, stated, "This Agreement is the result of hard work, goodwill and cooperation between our companies, the Syrian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and SPC. The Middle East is a core area for Gulfsands Petroleum, and this Agreement firmly establishes our business in Syria and provides a solid foundation for further cooperative projects with SPC." Gulfsands Petroleum is a Houston based privately held company with oil and gas exploration and production operations in the U.S., Colombia and Syria.