Faroe Petroleum Plc Regulatory News (FPM)

17 Oct 2006 10:11

Faroe Petroleum PLC17 October 2006 17 October 2006 Faroe Petroleum plc ("Faroe Petroleum" or "the Company") Brugdan Wildcat Exploration Well Update Faroe Petroleum, the independent oil and gas company focusing on exploration,appraisal and undeveloped field opportunities in the Atlantic Margin, North Seaand Norway, announces the completion of the drilling of the Brugdan wildcatexploration well on Licence 006 in the Faroe Islands. The well, which wasoperated by Statoil and drilled to a depth of 4,201 metres below sea level(approximately 13,780 feet) did not encounter substantial volumes ofhydrocarbons, but did show traces of gas. The well which was the first to have been drilled through the basalt on theFaroes shelf, with good penetration rates, has been plugged and abandoned. Oncethrough the basalt, the well encountered technical difficulties which preventedit from reaching its revised target depth of 4,400 metres. One of the principal motives for the Company's involvement in this well was tofurther its understanding and experience of drilling through basalt and to gainimportant knowledge of the geology of the region. Faroe Petroleum holds a 4.04%interest in the Brugdan well, through an acquisition in December 2005 onfavourable terms, and as a result has a relatively minor cost exposure. Graham Stewart, Chief Executive of Faroe Petroleum, commented: "Although we are disappointed that Brugdan was not a discovery, we are verypleased to have drilled successfully through the basalt and to have acquiredvery important geological data. "We have also gained valuable experience in drilling through basalt. Statoiloperated the well in exemplary fashion, applying state of the art techniques inplanning, drilling and logging. "We have considerable remaining, and discrete prospectivity on other licences inour Faroe Islands portfolio, including prospects on the Corona Ridge (Licence005), the Wyville-Thomson Ridge (Licence 012) and also adjacent to the Suilvenand Marjun discoveries (Licence 002) which we look forward to progressing withthe important knowledge we have gained from our participation in this well." Enquiries: Faroe Petroleum plcGraham StewartTel: 01224 652 810gstewart@faroe-petroleum.com Financial DynamicsJonathon Brill/Billy Clegg/Edward WestroppTel: 0207 269 7157billy.clegg@fd.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange