BOIL.L Regulatory News (BOIL)

2 Jun 2005 10:10

Gold Oil PLC02 June 2005 Gold Oil PLC2nd June, 2005 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE GOLD OIL COMPLETES FIRST PHASE OF GEOPHYSICAL OPERATIONS ON BLOCK XI, NORTHWESTERN PERU OPERATIONS IN NORTHERN PERU Gold Oil Plc ("Gold Oil" or the "Company"), the London-based oil explorationcompany focused on South America and the Caribbean, announces that it has nowcompleted the acquisition, processing and interpretation of its aeromagneticsurvey over the entire extent of Block XI. This block covers some 303,000hectares of the Sechura Desert of northwestern Peru, immediately adjacent toblocks with proven producing reserves. The survey, completed on schedule, comprised 5,200 kilometers of airborneprofiles almost exclusively over Block XI, acquired and processed by FugroAirborne Surveys, and interpreted by Dr Eric Sutton, a UK-based consultant ofinternational standing. The results of the survey demonstrate that Block XI is located such that itcould receive sub-surface hydrocarbon charges from both the west and south.Potential hydrocarbon traps of the type known in Viru-La Casita Gas Field inBlock XIII, immediately to the west, clearly pass north-eastwards into Block XI.The rest of Block XIII is currently still under appraisal, but natural gas hasbeen found in all of the ten wells drilled to date. The gas from the Viru-LaCasita Gas Field is currently being sold to local industry and there are reportsof gas reserves of over 350 billion cubic feet. Detailed survey findings are now being used to design the optimal seismic surveyon Block XI, for which planning is advanced. Under the terms of the promotion agreement with Perupetro, Gold Oil hasexclusive rights over Block XI until October 2006. The completion of this firstgeophysical phase has advanced significantly the subsurface evaluation of theblock, and increased its value. Commenting on today's announcement, Mike Burchell, Chairman of Gold Oil, stated:"The completion of this first phase of geophysical operations in northwesternPeru marks the transition of Gold Oil into a fully fledged oil operatingcompany. We continue to advance the timely evaluation of the hydrocarbonpotential of Block XI." ENQUIRIES: Gary Moore Managing Director; Tel: 01737 833597 Email: gmoore@goldoilplc.comMike Burchell Chairman; Tel: 01372 361772 Email: mikeburchell@hotmail.comRoland Cornish Beaumont Cornish Limited; Tel: 020 7628 3396 NOTE TO EDITORS The Acreage The area of Block XI is equivalent to just less than 14 UK North Sea blocks. Thetarget reservoirs are mostly at shallow depths of +/-5,000 feet. Rig anddrilling costs enable wells here to be drilled typically for around US$500,000.The block lies in a desert area, next to the city of Piura, and to the east ofan existing producing gas field. Both lie within the Sechura Basin, which isadjacent to, and is believed to be a sub-basin of the prolific Talara Basin. The Talara Basin to the north and west has produced over 1.6 billion barrels ofoil over a period of 100 years. Independent assessments put the reservesremaining to be discovered at 2.2 billion barrels and 5.8 trillion cubic feet ofgas. Gold Oil also holds exclusive rights over a second area here, Block Z-34,in the offshore sector of the Talara Basin, also immediately offset fromproducing fields. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange