BOIL.L Regulatory News (BOIL)

12 Jul 2006 16:21

Gold Oil PLC12 July 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 12 July 2006 GOLD OIL PLC ("Gold" or the "Company ") Gold invited to enter final negotiations for an Exploration & Exploitation Contract covering Block Z-34, Offshore Peru and Gold has spudded its Block XXI San Alberto 1 exploration well Block Z34 Gold is pleased to announce that the Company has been qualified by Perupetro asan Offshore Operator and Contractor. With its AIM listed joint venture partner,Plectrum Plc ("Plectrum"), we have been invited by Perupetro to start exclusivenegotiations with them to finalise the details of an Exploration Licencecovering Block Z-34, offshore Peru. It is expected that the contract will besigned and approved by Perupetro within weeks, with formal approval by theMinister of Energy and Mines sometime later. On 8 May 2006 Plectrum announced that it had agreed to form a joint venture withGold in respect of Block Z-34, jointly giving notice to convert Gold's existingPromotion Agreement into a 30 year Exploration & Exploitation Licence. Finalcompletion of the transaction was subject to the qualification of both companiesas approved contractors and the negotiation and approval of the ExplorationLicence terms by the Peruvian authorities. Block XXI Gold is pleased to announce that on the 10 July 2006 it spudded the SanAlberto-1X exploration well on Block XXI, onshore Sechura Basin in North WestPeru. The well is the first on the Block and is targeting both gas at less than3,500 feet in the Verdun reservoir, producing gas in the nearby La Casita field,and oil in the deeper Palaeozoic that is producing oil in the San Pedro oilfield. Total depth pf 6,500 feet is expected to be reached in some three weeks. Gary Moore, Gold's Managing Director, commented: "This is excellent news for Gold in our new joint venture with Plectrum. I lookforward to speedy negotiation of the contract terms so that we can becomeoperationally active as soon as possible and commence exploration activity onBlock Z34. It is also very important to Gold that exploration drilling hasstarted in such a short time since the Licence was ratified on the 4 of April2006." For further information, please contact: Gary MooreManaging Director Tel: +44 (0)1737833597 Michael BurchellChairman Tel. +44 (0) 1372361772 Roland CornishNominated AdviserBeaumont Cornish Limited Tel. +44 (0) 207 628 3396 Notes to Editors The offshore Block Z-34 sits in the prolific Talara Basin which has produced todate in excess of 1.7 billion barrels of oil and 340 billion cubic feet of gas(1). The 3,713 km(2) block (equivalent to 14 North Sea Blocks) sits adjacent toexisting producing concessions in water depths of 100-3000m, yet has a sparseexisting data set of just 500km 2D seismic and no wells. The initial workprogramme will be to acquire a conventional modern 2D seismic grid and enhancethese data with Electro Magnetic (EM) studies. The area of Block XXI is equivalent to just less than 14 UK North Sea blocks.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 Talara Basin. Previously the Company had been interested in the potentially gas bearing Verdunreservoirs in Block XXI, but the recent well by PetroTech offshore Sechura Basinflowed oil at 1200 bopd from the Paleozoic, a reservoir previously notconsidered over the last 100 years to produce oil at these rates. PetroTech havesince drilled more wells in its development of the San Pedro field. ThePaleozoic reservoirs are believed to run under Block XXI with top being ataround a depth of 4,000 feet. http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/1152g_-2006-7-12.pdf This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange