The firm, which had planned to stage a secondary listing on the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) earlier this year, says it hit a water fault after 3.9 kilometres of drilling, which was close to the end of the well.

Three attempts to fix the problem were unsuccessful and the company is now waiting for the return of a drilling rig to recomplete the well and seal the fault.

Tethys has a 40 per cent interest and is the operator of block 15, which is located onshore. Danish company Odin Energi holds the remaining stake. Tethys also has assets in Morocco, Turkey, Spain, France and Sweden (MEED 22:2:08).

The firm, which was to be the first oil company to list on the DIFX, has delayed its plans but not provided a firm date for when the listing will proceed.