North Africa-focused SDX Energy Inc. has struck gas at its SAH-2 well on the Sebou permit in Morocco, the company said March 9.

The discovery marks the fifth from seven wells drilled to date as part of the company’s nine-well Moroccan campaign, SDX CEO Paul Welch said in a news release.

Drilled to a total depth of 1,304 m (4,278 ft), the well encountered 5.2 m (17 ft) of net conventional natural gas pay across two zones in the Guebbas and Hoot formations with an average porosity in the pay section of 33%. The well came in on prognosis but with a reservoir thickness above pre-drill expectations, the company said in a news release.

SDX said it will complete the well, carry out tests and connect the well to existing infrastructure. The company plans to provide an update on testing results in early April.

“This was also the first well in the Gharb Basin that was successfully drilled using downhole directional tools which allowed us to penetrate the crest of two individual targets with a single wellbore,” Welch said. “We will use these tools when drilling our next well, LNB-1, an exploration well in our Lalla Mimouna concession, for a similar reason. By successfully targeting the crests of specific horizons, we now have the ability to improve the recovery efficiency from individual wells.”