i3 Energy plc, an independent oil and gas company with assets and operations in the UK, announces the following operational update. 

The 13/23c-9 pilot well on i3 Energy's 100% owned Liberator Field has now been plugged and abandoned as planned following completion of the vertical seismic profile ("VSP") survey and shear wave sonic logging.

The Borgland Dolphin will shortly be mobilised to drill the Serenity SA-01 well as the second well in the current drilling programme. Permitting for the SA-01 well is underway and mobilisation operations will commence as soon as the consent to locate permit is obtained from the regulatory authorities. The rig has been down-manned to minimise standby costs. Once drilling begins, the well is expected to take approximately four weeks. 

The Company has purchased a recently processed 3D seismic data set that will be integrated into its modelling ahead of drilling the LA-03 appraisal well at Liberator. This newly processed seismic has the characteristics necessary to allow an inversion process to be applied, enabling additional interpretation of the channel sand architecture. The processing and interpretation of this new seismic data will be undertaken while i3 is drilling the Serenity SA-01 well and will be integrated with i3's existing mapping to confirm that the planned LA-03 well, situated in the western part of the Liberator structure, remains at an optimal location. 

Majid Shafiq, CEO of i3 Energy, commented:
"Serenity is a high value exploration target and an exciting opportunity for i3 Energy and its shareholders. The structure itself is entirely separate from Liberator and will add significantly to the Company's resources in a success case.

"Drilling the Serenity well ahead of LA-03 will provide the necessary opportunity to process our findings from well 13/23c-9. We look forward to updating shareholders on further progress in due course once the permitting for the Serenity well has been completed."

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