HDY.L Regulatory News (HDY)

1 Apr 2008 15:41

Hardy Oil & Gas plc01 April 2008 Immediate Release 1 April 2008 Hardy Oil and Gas plc ("Hardy" or "the Company") Drilling Update Hardy Oil and Gas plc (LSE: HDY), the oil and gas exploration and productioncompany with assets in India and Nigeria, is pleased to announce the second gasdiscovery in the Company's D3 deepwater exploration block.The well KGVD3-B1 was drilled in a water depth of 711 meters (m), to a totaldepth of 2,730 m, with the objective of exploring high amplitude geobodies ofPliestocene deep water fan complex and unconformity related structural traps atthe Miocene level. Excellent quality reservoirs were encountered with grosshydrocarbon columns of approximately 111 m. The potential of the zones wasevaluated through wire-line based technology called Modular Dynamic Testing(MDT). The Government of India and Directorate General of Hydrocarbons have beennotified of this discovery, (named Dhirubhai-41). The potential commercialinterest of the discovery is being ascertained through further data gatheringand analysis.In February 2008, the Company announced the first gas discovery in the sameblock (named 'Dhirubhai-39') and notification of potential commercial discoverywas recently submitted to the Government of India and Directorate General ofHydrocarbons.Approximately 70 per cent of this block is covered by 3D Seismic survey andfurther prospect analysis is underway. This discovery has established apetroleum system in the block, the extent of which is being analysed.The deepwater block awarded in NELP-V is situated 45 km away from the coast andcovers an area of 3288 km2. This is the second gas discovery in this block.Hardy hold a 10 per cent participating interest with the operator RelianceIndustries Limited (RIL) holding the remaining 90 per cent.Commenting on the above developments, Sastry Karra, Chief Executive of Hardysaid:"We are delighted with another positive result from our exploration drillingactivity. This second discovery on the D3 block further enhances theprospectivity of this extensive block." For further information please contact: Hardy Oil and Gas plc 020 7471 9850Sastry Karra (Chief Executive)Yogeshwar Sharma (Chief Operating Officer)Dinesh Dattani (Finance Director) Arden Partners plc 020 7398 1600Richard Day / Tom Fyson Buchanan Communications 020 7466 5000Mark Edwards / Ben Willey Notes:This update has been approved for issue by Yogeshwar Sharma, Chief OperatingOfficer of Hardy. Mr. Sharma is a Licenced Professional Engineer in AlbertaCanada and a Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Glossary:D3 India offshore exploration licence KG-DWN-2003/1km2 square kilometresm metresMDT Modular Dynamic TestingReliance Reliance Industries LimitedTD Total depth This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange