Highlands Natural Resources Regulatory News (HNR)

4 Oct 2005 07:00

Hardman Resources Limited04 October 2005 STOCK EXCHANGE / MEDIA RELEASE RELEASE DATE: 4 October 2005 AUSTRALIAN CONTACT: Simon Potter Hardman Resources Ltd +61 8 9261 7600 LONDON CONTACT: Patrick Handley Brunswick Group +44 207 404 5959 RE: MAURITANIA DRILLING PROGRAMME WEEKLY PROGRESS REPORT Hardman Resources Limited ("Hardman") provides the following progress report onits Mauritania offshore activities: PSC area B: Tevet-2 Appraisal/Exploration Well The Tevet-2 well was drilled to a depth of 3041meters by the Stena Tay drillingrig, where 9-5/8" casing was set. As of midnight on 3rd October, the well wasdrilling ahead at 3692m and was on track to intersect the Cretaceous Explorationtarget at a planned total depth (TD) of 3965m. The Tevet-2 well is located 2.5kilometres to the South of the Miocene discovery well Tevet-1, and lies in awater depth of 466m. Chinguetti Development Wells The 'West Navigator' drill-ship has successfully finished drilling, wellcompletion and flow-testing operations, on the Chinguetti production and waterinjection wells. Consequently, as scheduled, the drill-ship was released fromMauritania at the end of its contract period, at 20:30 hrs on the 29 September2005. The completion of this phase of operations and the successful clean-up ofall producing wells marks a significant milestone for the project. TheChinguetti field is due to come on stream in the first quarter of 2006 at aforecast rate of 75,000 barrels of oil per day Chinguetti FPSO 'Berge Helene' The refurbishment of the Chinguetti FPSO, the 'Berge Helene' was completed on 28September 2005 at the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore. The vessel is currentlyanchored in deep water off Singapore where commissioning activities are beingundertaken prior to the voyage to Mauritania. Once in the field final hook-upoperations will be completed ahead of production start-up. All reported depths (except water depth) are referenced to the rig rotary table(RT). Hydrocarbon shows will only be reported after all required logs have beenrun and evaluated, although Hardman will release weekly updates on theexploration drilling campaign. Hardman interests in PSC's A, B and the Chinguetti field are: PSC B PSC A Chinguetti Field (EEA)Woodside (operator) 53.846% 53.846% 47.384%Hardman 21.6% 24.3% 19.008%BG Group 11.63% 13.084% 10.234%Fusion/Premier 9.231% 4.615% 8.123%ROC 3.693% 4.155% 3.250%Groupe Projet Chinguetti - - 12.000% All reported depths (except water depth) are referenced to the rig rotary table(RT). Hydrocarbon shows will be only be reported after all required logs havebeen run and evaluated, although Hardman will release weekly updates on theexploration drilling campaign. Times and dates refer to GMT (Mauritania time), 8 hours behind Western StandardTime, PerthAustralia. SIMON POTTERMANAGING DIRECTOR 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