Sunda Energy, an independent company listed on AIM, has held consultations with the Timor-Leste regulatory authority regarding production issues following reports that the government intends to terminate the production sharing agreement covering the major Chuditch gas field.

For several years, Sunda has been evaluating the offshore Chuditch field, discovered in 1998, which is estimated to contain an average of 1.2 trillion cubic feet of marketable gas.

In recent days, the company has held talks with the ANP regulator of Timor-Leste and its state joint venture partner Timor GAP to discuss next steps for PSC TL-SO-19-16. Sunda is currently considering possible courses of action, including drilling the Chuditch-2 appraisal well.

Previously, the operator requested an extension of the PSC after being unable to secure a drilling rig for Chuditch-2, which is located at a depth of 65 meters. Although the well could have been drilled using a jack-up rig, in April Sunda and Finder Energy joined forces to jointly lease a semi-submersible drilling rig, which is planned to be used for both upcoming drilling campaigns in Timor-Leste.

Meanwhile, Sunda continues to acquire Matahio Energy’s assets in New Zealand, which include four production licenses and one exploration license in the Taranaki coastal basin on the west coast of the North Island. The average daily production from these assets for the five months up to May 31, 2026, was 1,036 barrels of oil equivalent, with a projected annual output of 1,052 boe/day, which is 2.3% higher than the 2025 figure.

After signing the purchase agreement with Matahio, Sunda submitted an application to the New Zealand government for approval of the change of control over the licenses, and the approval process is ongoing. The deal is expected to be completed in September of this year.

The company plans to drill an exploration well on the Puka license, being acquired from Matahio, by early 2027, with an accelerated development scenario already in place. The Puka license includes the undrilled Oru structure, which contains median prospective resources of 1.8 million barrels of oil and 3.9 billion cubic feet of gas, as well as maximum prospective resources of 5.7 million barrels of oil and 12.5 billion cubic feet of gas. The Oru well is considered low-risk, with a geological chance of success of 63%.