JKX.L Regulatory News (JKX)

7 Feb 2006 07:00

JKX Oil & Gas PLC07 February 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 7 February 2006 JKX OIL & GAS plc ANNOUNCES UKRAINIAN DRILLING UPDATE JKX Oil & Gas plc ("JKX") announces that Well R101 in the Rudenkovskoye Field,onshore Ukraine, has been suspended whilst an additional string of high strengthcasing is delivered. Completion and testing of the well is now scheduled forApril 2006. Well R101 was spudded at the beginning of October 2005 and reached a depth of4,579m in mid January. Mud logs indicated more than 200m of gas bearingTournasian sandstones in a number of intervals from approximately 4,100m; gasshows were recorded at downhole pressures of between 9,000psi and 11,000psi.Drilling was halted at 4,579m when gas was encountered at pressures in excess of12,000 psi. These pressures exceeded the design parameters for the well and were30% higher than the maximum values reported in offset wells drilled by UkrainianState organisations in the 1970s. A cement plug has been set to isolate thislower horizon and a liner has been run and cemented. The N75 rig is currently being moved to the Molchanovskoye Field to drill thenext horizontal producing Well M154 in the northern area of the field. Oncompletion of Well M154, the rig will return to Rudenkovskoye to set the newhigh pressure casing, prior to logging and testing of the upper horizons of WellR101. Advanced "through casing" logging techniques will be required as it wasnot possible to run open hole logs across the upper Tournasian sands prior towell suspension. The Company is also reviewing options for drilling and testing the underlyinghigh pressure Devonian formations; these include upgrading of the N75 rig orcontracting a larger rig with a 15,000psi BOP system. JKX Oil & Gas plc is an oil and gas exploration and production company listed onthe London Stock Exchange. The company has license interests in Ukraine,Georgia, Italy, Bulgaria, Turkey, Russia and the United States END For further information please contact: Sofia Rehman Cardew Group 020 7930 0777 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange