Highlands Natural Resources Regulatory News (HNR)

8 Apr 2005 07:00

Hardman Resources Limited08 April 2005 STOCK EXCHANGE / MEDIA RELEASE RELEASE DATE: 8 April 2005 CONTACT: Simon Potter TELEPHONE: Within Australia: 08 9261 7600International: +61 8 9261 7600 RE MARLOO-1, TIMOR SEA, AUSTRALIA, FINAL DRILLING REPORT PAGES: 2 Hardman Resources Limited (Hardman) on behalf of its wholly owned subsidiaryHardman Oil and Gas Pty Ltd provides the following report on its drillingoperations in the Timor Sea, Australia. Marloo-1 Exploration Well The Marloo-1 well is located in AC/P26 in the Timor Sea and was spudded at 13.45hrs CST on 1 April 2005. The well reached Total Depth of 2,041 metres at 11.00hrs CST on 7 April. Wireline logging has confirmed the absence of hydrocarbonsin the objectives. The well is being plugged and abandoned. The well wasscheduled to take 14 days and cost $5 million but is anticipated to be completedin 9 days and $1.5 million ahead of budget. Current Operation:Setting cement plugs prior to the abandonment of Marloo-1. Well Location:Marloo-1 has been drilled by the "Ocean Bounty" in Exploration Permit AC/P26 inthe Timor Sea some 660 kilometres west of Darwin and 52 kilometres southeast ofthe Challis Field. Water depth at the well location is 95 metres and the plannedtotal depth was 2,039 metres. The final well location is:12o 31' 54.537" South124o 46' 48.744" East Prospect Details:The Marloo-1 well has tested a Late Jurassic structural/stratigraphic trap. Themain targets were the Lower Vulcan Formation and the Montara Sandstones. Geology and Hydrocarbon shows:Geologically the well came in on prognosis, however, no hydrocarbon shows wererecorded whilst drilling and the wireline logs confirmed the absence ofhydrocarbons in the objectives. Participants:Hardman Oil and Gas Pty Ltd 100%(Lonman Pty Ltd 1.25% Carried to Production Interest) Figure 1: Location Map, Hardman Drilling Operations, Timor Sea Managing Directors Comment: Simon Potter, Managing Director of Hardman Resources Limited commented that"this result was not entirely unexpected, but Hardman has shown that it has theorganisational capability to operate safely and efficiently in the offshoreenvironment. The potential development of the Talbot field remains unchanged bythe lack of success at Marloo-1 especially given the current oil price". SIMON POTTERMANAGING DIRECTORHARDMAN RESOURCES LTD Note: In accordance with Australian Stock Exchange Limited listing requirements,the geological information supplied in this report has been based on informationprovided by geologists who have had in excess of five years experience in theirfield of activity. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange