Decision & Appeal of SMP Court Case

04 Nov 2025 18:00 CET

November 4, 2025

ZENITH ENERGY LTD.

("Zenith" or the "Company")

Decision & Appeal of SMP Court Case

Zenith Energy Ltd. ("Zenith" or the "Company") (LSE: ZEN; OSE: ZENA; XSAT: ZENA
SDR), the listed international energy production and development company,
announces that the Paris Commercial Court (the "Court") has delivered a decision
in respect of the legal claim (the "Claim") brought before the Paris Commercial
Court (the "Court") by its fully owned subsidiary, Anglo African Oil & Gas Congo
S.A.U ("AAOGC") against SMP Energies (hereafter "SMP", formerly Société de
Maintenance Pétrolière - SMP) the rig contractor that performed drilling
services in wells TLP-103 and TLP-103C of the Tilapia oilfield during 2018-2019.


Background

On July 15, 2019, formerly AIM quoted Anglo African Oil & Gas plc ("AAOG"), the
previous owner of AAOGC prior to its acquisition by Zenith in May 2020, made an
announcement confirming that AAOGC had initiated a claim against SMP following
poor performance in drilling wells TLP-103 and TLP-103C, and the refusal by SMP
to engage in negotiations to cover the significant cost overruns that had been
incurred by AAOGC as a direct consequence.

The Claim was initially launched in Court against SMP to recover costs of US$3.1
million relating to SMP's unsatisfactory performance.

In taking the decision to launch the Claim for costs against SMP the following
reasons were considered significant at the time:

· AAOGC had maintained extensive, contemporaneous technical records of the
failures of the Rig and the losses and delays that were caused as a result;

· SMP had not put forward evidence, of any kind, to suggest that Rig
performance was not the cause for cost overruns; and

· Advice from International counsel in London, Paris and the Republic of
the Congo was that the Claim had merit.

Under the rules and conventions of the Court, mediation between the parties
engaged in a dispute is a recommended course of action. As a result, a
supervised mediation meeting took place during the Autumn of 2019.

On December 11, 2019, AAOG announced that mediation efforts had proven
unsuccessful and that, as a result, AAOGC would continue to pursue the Claim.

On November 11, 2020, Zenith provided an update on the Claim announcing that SMP
had retaliated to the Claim by obtaining a number of unjustified seizure orders
over the fixed assets of AAOGC in the Republic of the Congo, as well as over its
local bank accounts, and that whilst the initial granting of these orders had no
bearing on the Claim launched in the Paris Commercial Court, it had been
successful in fully revoking all of the wrongful seizure orders initially
obtained in the Republic of the Congo.

On February 17, 2023, Zenith announced that it AAOGC had increased the amount of
the Claim for SMP's failures during drilling activities to US$9 million, in
consideration of the significant commercial damages suffered by AAOGC,
specifically the impossibility, as a direct result, to begin production
activities from the Tilapia oilfield.
Further, Zenith announced that AAOGC had intensified its legal activities in
support of the Claim by commissioning third-party reports from leading experts.

On July 3, 2023, the Company announced that the Court had rejected SMP's request
for a stay of proceedings in France due to new proceedings having been initiated
in the Republic of Congo, stating that SMP's request contained "all the
characteristics of a dilatory request", and ordered SMP to pay an amount of EUR
30,000 to AAOGC as initial procedural costs (the "Initial Procedural Costs").

SMP unsuccessfully appealed this intermediate decision of the Court, resulting
in the Paris Court of Appeal upholding the decision of the Paris Commercial
Court and AAOGC receiving Procedural Costs in the amount of approximately EUR
30,000.

On October 4, 2024, the Company announced that it had appointed Charles Russell
Speechlys Paris as new legal counsel before the Court in connection with the
legal claim against SMP.

Decision

The Court has partially accepted a significant proportion of the legal arguments
advanced by AAOGC as part of the Claim, whilst solely recognising 160,000 EUR in
compensation payable to AAOGC as a result of the responsibilities ascribable to
SMP.

However, the Court ruled that SMP’s invoice, amounting to approximately €630,000
— although fully contested by AAOGC — remains payable on the basis that it was
not disputed within six (6) calendar days, as stipulated in the contract. This
interpretation is firmly contested by AAOGC.
The Court has not provided for provisional enforcement of the decision.

Appeal
AAOGC has instructed Charles Russell Speechlys (Paris) to appeal the decision,
given its clearly contradictory nature and the limited level of compensation
awarded despite the Court’s acknowledgment of many of AAOGC’s arguments.
The Company will provide a further update in due course as the appeal
progresses.



Andrea Cattaneo, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

“In light of the fact that AAOGC has been pursuing this claim for approximately
five years, the decision is disappointing.

It is important to underline that this case was initiated prior to our
acquisition of AAOGC, and that the underlying events occurred before the current
management assumed responsibility for this entity. Nevertheless, upon acquiring
AAOGC, we formed the view — which we continue to hold — that AAOGC’s claim had
strong legal and factual merits.
The procedural conduct of SMP, as evidenced by the intermediate decision in July
2023, has had the purpose of making every possible attempt to impede the
progress of the Claim.

With receivables exceeding US$5.3 million due from SNPC, the national oil
company of the Republic of the Congo, and given the absence of any provisional
enforcement in this decision, we shall proceed to appeal before the Paris Court
of Appeal.

We remain unwavering in our confidence in the Company’s potential and look
forward to making further near-term progress on the key strategic fronts that
underpin the Company’s value.”

Further Information:
Zenith Energy Ltd

Andrea Cattaneo, Chief Executive Officer
Tel: +1 (587) 315 1279
E: info@zenithenergy.ca


Notes to Editors:

Zenith Energy Ltd. is a revenue generating, independent energy company with
energy production, exploration and development assets in North Africa, the US
and Europe. The Company is listed on the London Stock Exchange Main Market (LSE:
ZEN), the Euronext Growth of the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE: ZENA) and on the
Spotlight Stock Market in Sweden (XSAT: ZENA SDR).

Zenith's strategic focus is on pursuing development opportunities through the
development of proven revenue generating energy production assets, as well as
low-risk exploration activities in assets with existing production.

For more information, please visit: www.zenithenergy.ca
Twitter: @zenithenergyltd
LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3A5PRJb

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