HDY.L Regulatory News (HDY)

20 Dec 2005 14:04

Hardy Oil & Gas plc20 December 2005 For immediate release 20 December 2005 Hardy Oil and Gas plc ("Hardy" or " the Company") Contract Award for Indian Offshore Development Hardy Oil and Gas plc (AIM: HDY) is pleased to confirm that its subsidiary,Hardy Exploration & Production (India) Inc., has entered into an agreement witha subsidiary of Sinvest ASA (the Deep Drilling Invest Group) for the drilling oftwo wells on the CY-OS2 block. The contract term is for a period of two wells,with an estimated duration of around 130 days. The contract is targeted tocommence in the second quarter of 2006, drilling to depths of 3,500 metressubsea at a cost of approximately $24 million. The Drilling Contract will be performed by Premium Drilling with the unit DeepDrilling I. The Deep Drilling I is a new Baker Marine 375 'Pacific Class' jackupdesigned to work in up to 375 ft water depths and is currently being built atPPL Shipyard in Singapore. Hardy is the operator, and holds a 75% working interest, in the CY-OS2 blocklocated in the northern part of the Cauvery Basin. Commenting on the drilling contract, Sastry Karra, Chief Executive of Hardysaid: "The drilling plans for the Company are progressing well, and we are pleased toconfirm our drilling contract to complete our requirement on the CY-OS2 block.Prospectivity on the block includes a number of fan plays." For additional information contact: Hardy Oil and Gas plc 020 7471 9850Sastry Karra, Chief Executive Arden Partners 020 7398 1600Richard Day Buchanan Communications 020 7466 5000Mark EdwardsBen Willey This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange