On 24 December 2019, the award of the Saouaf permit to Upland (Saouaf) Ltd became effective with the publication of the award in the government gazette (Journal Officiel de la RÃ©publique Tunisienne).  On 28 June 2019 the formal signing of the Saouaf permit contract took place in Tunis. Signatories were Upland (Saouaf) Ltd, the Ministry of Industry and Small & Medium Enterprises and state oil company ETAP. Participants in the block are Upland, operator with 50% and ETAP, carried through exploration, with 50%. The first exploration period has a duration of two years and carries a one well commitment. According to Upland Resources, the Saouaf block has a good gas potential. An independent report by Blackwatch Petroleum lists 11 prospects and 1 discovery with a total mean recoverable resource of 1,961 Bcf of gas.  In April 2019, Upland Resources had already received farm-in offers for the acreage by interested parties. Now that the Saouaf contract is signed, Upland can actively look for a partner.  In August 2018, Upland Resources announced that it had been awarded the 4,004 sq km Saouaf Permit. The permit covers acreage atop the North-South Axis, Central Atlas Graben Zone, Kasserine Island and East Tunisian Platform (Pelagian Basin). It was mentioned that should a new discovery be made, the state oil company ETAP (as joint venture partner) would have a right to âback-inâ for a minority stake by paying its share of past costs and funding its share of future costs.  Upland proposed a work programme that includes an initial 2D seismic survey, followed by the drilling one or more new wells, drilling is conditional on the results of the seismic survey.  To date only five wells are known to have been drilled within the area covered by the permit, all of which were drilled in the 1950s. Two of the wells Dekrila 1 and Edjehaf 1 were plugged and abandoned with gas shows and oil shows respectively.   Uplands mentioned that a gas discovery had been made within the permit, it is speculated that the Company is referring to the Dekrila 1 well. The well was drilled within the North South Axis by Cie des Petroles de Tunisie between 1954 and 1955 to a TD of 2,139 m (within the Lower Cretaceous).
Tunesia	Panoceanic Energy was awarded Kef Abbed, Metline and Tiskraya prospecting permits and Saouaf permit to Upland (Saouaf). 