Rockpool Acqui Regulatory News (ROC)

11 May 2005 07:02

Roc Oil Company Limited11 May 2005 ROC OIL COMPANY LIMITED ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - CHAIRMAN'S ADDRESS Museum of Sydney, Sydney Wednesday 11 May 2005 1. INTRODUCTION Ladies and Gentlemen, Slide 1 - ROC Logo* Once again, I would like to welcome you to ROC's Annual General Meeting ("AGM"):the Company's sixth as a publicly-listed company. Slide 2 - Chairman's Address Many of you are familiar with the format for these meetings. The formal part ofthe meeting is immediately followed by a presentation by our Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Dr John Doran, together with some of his Senior Management colleagues.We aim to finish that part of the proceedings by about 12.30pm after which Johnwill give a five minute key note address prior to shareholders being invited toask questions and then join us for an informal sandwich lunch. Slide 3 - Key Points Consistent with previous AGMs, my address will focus on matters which relatespecifically to the Company and its activities and also to the general globaloil and gas industry. At the end of my address, we will move to consider theformal resolutions as advised to you in your Notice of Meeting.For my address I would like to focus on four key points: • Oil price trends; • Forward oil sale strategy; • Market climate; • Investor Relations. 2. OIL PRICE TRENDS Slide 4 - Oil Price Trends Just before last year's AGM oil prices hit US$41/bbl for West Texas Intermediate("WTI") crude. That was a 13 1/2 year high. Clearly, a year is a very long time in the oil business. Since the last AGM WestTexas Intermediate crude oil has ranged as high as US$58/bbl although, at themoment the price is "only" about US$50/bbl. I never thought I would stand infront of ROC shareholders and use the word "only" in that context. At last year's meeting I commented that neither ROC, nor any other oil company,knew where the oil price was going to go in the future and that the "bulls andbears which prowl the oil price landscape seem to have equally compellingarguments". It is now quite clear that for the last 12 months the bulls havebeen in the ascendancy. ROC and other oil companies are still no wiser as to where the oil price islikely to go in the next 12 months. However, today it is easier to envisage theprice spiking above US$60/bbl in response to one or more specific incidences,possibly in the Middle East, rather than falling below US$30/bbl for a prolongedperiod. One can only speculate as to whether the recent prediction of a major USinvestment bank of an oil price spike to US$100/bbl will be realised. This situation stands in stark contrast to my comments at last year's meetingwhen I confirmed that ROC was using a US$20/bbl WTI price as the benchmark forfuture field developments. Events during the last 12 months have shown that thisview was overly conservative. Now, when ROC looks at new field developments,provided that they are within a year of completion, we generally follow the nearterm part of the forward curve and then drop the forecast per barrel price backinto the high US$20s. This is not necessarily because we believe that that iswhere the oil price will trend, but because ROC believes it is better to beconservative when planning new field developments and this is the approach ROCcontinues to apply to its various projects. 3. FORWARD OIL SALE STRATEGY Slide 5 - Forward Oil Sale Strategy For reasons that are not obvious, it seems that the forward oil price hedgingstrategies of small and mid-cap oil companies are not always laid out in a plainand clear manner that allows shareholders to readily understand what theircompany is doing in that regard. In this part of my address, I hope to ensurethat ROC's forward sale strategy is very plainly conveyed so that it can beclearly understood by all shareholders. The first thing to emphasise is that ROC's forward sale strategy reflects itsview of the oil price. Our strategy is to give shareholders a sensibly balanced exposure to oil priceupside while, at the same time, ensuring that the Company is appropriatelyprotected should the oil price collapse. We have sought to achieve this in twoways: Slide 6 - Swaps • Swaps. Firstly, as advised in our recently released Quarterly Report, ROC has entered into a swap agreement with BP. Through this arrangement for the 21 month period from March 2006 to December 2007, ROC has nominated 909,000 barrels at a price of US$49.58/bbl Brent. In plain English, what this really means is that during most of 2006 and all of2007, ROC will be guaranteed a sale price just shy of US$50/bbl for almost amillion barrels of oil. This represents less than 25% of the Company'santicipated combined production for that period from the Cliff Head andChinguetti oil fields. If, by the time of sale, the Brent oil price has dropped below US$50/bbl, ROCwill still receive the price established by the swap arrangement. In essence the 'swap' allows us to lock in this price for this quantity andperiod. However, because the swap only covers a relatively small portion of theCompany's anticipated production, ROC and its shareholders should fervently hopethat when the time comes to make the swap, oil will be trading at prices aboveUS$50/bbl. If that happens and the swaps are "out of the money" we will all bedelighted because the majority of the Company's production will then be sold ateven higher prices. In this sense, every time you forward sell a minorityportion of your future production you earnestly hope that it will prove to be anoverly conservative move. However, in the past, locking in a price of almostUS$50/bbl Brent would rarely have been viewed as being overly conservative! Slide 7 - Put Option • Put Option. Subsequent to the release of the latest Quarterly Report, ROC has entered into a Put Option arrangement with regard to 200,000 barrels of oil for the 10 month period between March and December 2006. The price of the Put Option is US$40/bbl and the cost of the option is US$1.84/bbl. Again, in plain English, the second leg of our strategy is to partially coverthe downside in the event of a price collapse. What this really means is that during the last 10 months of 2006 ROC will havethe entitlement but, importantly, not the obligation, to sell 200,000 barrels ofits oil for US$40/bbl, no matter what price oil is selling for on the spotmarket at that time. Obviously, if the spot oil price is below US$40/bbl ROCwould exercise its Put Option and the 200,000 barrels would be effectively soldat US$40/bbl. If, however, the oil price is above $40/bbl, ROC will have thefreedom to leave the option lapse and sell those barrels into the spot market,thereby, realising a price that will, by definition, be higher than US$40/bbl.In this sense, those 200,000 barrels of oil remain totally exposed to high oilprice upside but there is a clear limit on their oil price downside as definedby the US$40/bbl floor price established by the Put Option. Again, the Put Option arrangement relates only to a small amount of ROC'santicipated production during the relevant 10 month period: about 10%.Hopefully, the foregoing comments give you a clear picture of what ROC is doingwith regard to forward selling the oil that we expect to produce from theChinguetti and Cliff Head oil fields starting in 2006. In a nutshell: we areeffectively forward selling 1.1 million barrels, a relatively modest part ofROC's anticipated production, at what we perceive to be good prices. We are,however, still maintaining exposure to the spot market for the majority of theCompany's production. 4. MARKET CLIMATE Slide 8 - Market Climate At last year's AGM it was pointed out that ROC's share price had risen by 22%since the previous AGM in 2003. Since the 2004 AGM ROC's share price has risen by as much as a further 40% andit currently stands about 20% higher than this time last year. The general strengthening of ROC's share price during the year largely reflectsa continuing positive sector sentiment fuelled by a rising oil price - which ismuch the same story as the previous year. When a commodity is "hot" the relevant market sector will, sooner or later, moveup. Oil has become a hot commodity. Therefore, not surprisingly, the oil and gassector has surged. That is why energy indices and the share price of individualoil and gas companies in various parts of the world have risen significantly,sometimes spectacularly. In ROC's case this upward trend is readily identified as starting in mid-2003.Since then, ROC's share price has risen by as much as 90%, notwithstanding alarge Rights Issue in April 2004 at A$1.40/share. Today the ROC share price is24% above the Rights Issue price and more than 60% above its May 2003 low.As a result of the Rights Issue and the strengthening share price, ROC's marketcapitalisation has increased by approximately A$200 million (more than 150%) tomore than A$300 million during the last two years. In previous market climates such increases in market capitalisation and shareprice would have been considered satisfactory, even quite good. However, whenthis performance is compared to what has been happening recently in other partsof the oil sector, particularly on the Alternative Investment Market ("AIM") inLondon, the increases are probably best described as "ordinary". In April 2005, a leading independent broker in London stated that ROC wastrading at a discount of 33% to Net Asset Value. The broker's report went on tostate that "this must make ROC one of the best value stocks in the sector at thepresent time" - and that was when the share price was in the A$1.80 - A$1.90range during the first part of April 2005. Australia has also seen a recent proliferation of oil companies. Twelve yearsago there were 16 publicly-listed upstream oil companies in Australia with amarket capitalisation in excess of US$10 million. Today all but four of thosecompanies are gone; mainly taken over, often by overseas corporate predators.However, today there are more than 70 publicly-listed oil and gas companies onASX - a compelling testimony to the fertile environment provided by thecombination of a rising oil price and a booming stock market. As shareholders in ROC, it will come as no surprise to you that your Companytakes a fairly sceptical view of current market trends. It has all happenedbefore, particularly in Australia which has some interesting experiences withresource booms. All such booms contain their fair share of froth. Slide 9 - The frothy bits are always first to go Usually it's the frothy bits that go first when the boom starts to recede. Inthe last few weeks we may have glimpsed the early signs of a cooling market.Fortunately, there are a number of solid companies with real assets containedwithin this present oil market boom in Australia. Not surprisingly, we wouldsuggest ROC is one of them. With its combination of cash and solid assets ROCshould do well in a continuing strong market and be relatively - but, obviously,not entirely - insulated from the impact of a cooling market. 5. INVESTOR RELATIONS Slide 10 - Investor Relations One thing that ROC could have done better during the year relates to itsInvestor Relations programme. Quite simply, we recognise that in prior years weused to put more time into telling the story to current shareholders orpotential new investors. The Board and Senior Management Team at ROC have discussed this matter in somedetail and we all acknowledge that a large part of the challenge has been thatmanagement has been very much focussed on building the business. Primarily, ofcourse, that is what they are paid to do and we don't intend to lessen thisfocus. What we do intend to do is to implement a more structured InvestorRelations programme in order to increase the likelihood that, as the Companymoves towards a significant upswing in production and continues to mature itsexploration projects, the progress that these developments represent will beaccurately recognised and reflected in the share price. As an aside, I would highlight the fact that we shouldn't confuse relating toinvestors with communicating to the market. If anybody looks at the frequency,tone and content of ROC's Stock Exchange releases it quickly becomes clear thatROC continually strives to speak plainly, candidly and often about the good andthe bad aspects of its various activities. And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, would probably be a good lead into the formalpart of the meeting where we will consider the four resolutions detailed in theNotice of Meeting distributed to you last month. 6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Slide 11 - Staff Collage However, just before we move onto those Agenda items, I would very much like tothank all of ROC's staff - not just the managers and senior executives, buteveryone in the world wide workforce - for another 12 months of extremely hardwork and dedicated effort. Perhaps, one of the many points which my fellow Directors and I see which shouldbe highlighted to shareholders is the continuing well balanced attitude ofmanagement towards very carefully managing the Company's resources as if theCompany's cash position was less than robust and the oil price was around US$20/bbl. That's a healthy attitude. Members of the Senior Management Team at ROC have been in the oil business longenough to have accumulated sufficient scar tissue for them to realise thatrelatively large bank balances and positive sector sentiment simply represent amoment in corporate time and that both need to be very carefully andcost-consciously managed regardless of booming markets and rampant productprices. Andrew J. LoveChairmanWednesday 11 May 2005________________________________________________________________________________ ROC OIL COMPANY LIMITED ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER'S ADDRESS: OVERVIEW Museum of Sydney, Sydney Wednesday 11 May 2005 Slide 1 - Logo As always, it is a pleasure and a privilege to present at this meeting. It isalmost like a once a year family gathering. Slide 2 - CEO's Report Over the last six years we have done our best to ensure that you don't just hearfrom the Chairman and myself, but also from other senior managers - and asAndrew mentioned we intend to continue the format again this year. We always tryto adhere to a constrained timeframe lest we test your patience as lunchtimelooms. However, this year may be a little different. Firstly, we actuallybelieve we will meet the self imposed deadline of 12:30pm for the end of themain part of the proceedings. Secondly, after the senior managers have madetheir presentations, I will deliver a five minute key note presentation prior toa 90 second video before question time. On this basis we should be eating by nolater than 12.45pm - depending on the number of questions. 1. EXPLORATION Slide 3 - Exploration Wes Jamieson, ROC's General Manger-Exploration will be the first senior managerto present after my introductory remarks, Wes will talk to you about what ROChas done - and what it plans to do - in the realms of exploration and appraisal.As we tried to make clear in the Annual Report: 2004 was not a good year for ROCas far as exploration drilling was concerned. That is a fact and it needs to beplainly stated. Let me assure you that we don't blame Wes. It's a jointresponsibility and, we would like to think, just a moment in time. The way we look at it is that if our exploration record was being tried in acourt of law, the most recent session went badly for the Company. Fortunately,the balance of evidence presented during the course of the entire trialcontinues to fall in the Company's favour. Since ROC became a public company, it has drilled 29 exploration wells of whicheight (28% or 1 in 3.6) have been successful. Please note that "success" isdefined as a commercial, potentially commercial and/or a regionally significantdiscovery. Two (25%) of those eight exploration successes are now subject tocommercial development: both in areas where oil had not been found before -offshore Mauritania and the offshore Perth Basin. ROC's main problem remains unchanged from last year: we haven't found enough oilin the right places. It really is that simple. Our overall drilling statisticsare satisfactory but the bigger fields that we have found happen to be in areaswhere we have small equities while, in the areas where we have bigger equities,the fields we have discovered, so far, appear to be small. ROC is yet to find a legacy asset. It has found an oil field with a reasonableamount of recoverable reserves at Chinguetti and also an oil field with a largeamount of in-place oil at Tiof. But, in both these fields ROC has a small equityposition. The Company has also found a much smaller field at Cliff Head in anarea where it has a large equity. You can see where the obvious challenge lies:to find a big field in an area where ROC has a big equity position. That's allthat is required! We have been aware of this problem for a year and we are in the process offixing it. During the next two years we expect to drill big targets in areaswhere we have sizable equities: deep water Equatorial Guinea, onshore Angola,onshore UK, offshore Perth Basin, onshore New Zealand and, Slide 4 - WA351P Map as of today's announcement, in a BHP Petroleum-operated deep water permit in theCarnarvon Basin, offshore Australia, which Wes will refer to in slightly moredetail. It should be emphasised that the strategy we are maintaining is decidedlyorganic and reliant upon future operational success. As such, it is neither aninstantaneous nor a guaranteed way of increasing the Company's reserveinventory. However, it is the biggest and arguably, the most exciting,exploration drilling programme in ROC's albeit relatively brief history. 2. OPERATIONS Slide 5 - Operations After Wes has spoken to you, Chris Way our General Manger-Operations will tellyou about some of the operations ROC has undertaken during the last 12 months.Chris, together with his team of drilling and reservoir engineers, has beenextremely busy: the Company has participated in a total of 24 wells of which ROCoperated 5 wells (21%) spread through 3 countries and a wide variety ofenvironments from the Company's first deep water drilling operation, offshoreEquatorial Guinea, to drilling virtually beneath Hadrian's Wall on the edge of aWorld Heritage site in northern England. ROC is evolving into a very serious operating company. That was always one ofour goals. So far our operations have been safe and successful - although thereis never any room for complacency on either front. 3. HEALTH SAFETY ENVIRONMENT & COMMUNITY ("HSE&C") Slide 6 - HSE&C Which brings us to HSE&C. ROC's spread of operations has required the Company todevelop a high level of HSE&C skills. To some, this subject might appear to besomewhat dry and superficially boring, but, I can assure you, that within ROC itis neither of these things - and there are at least three reasons why this isthe case. Firstly, if the Company doesn't get this aspect of its activities right thenmuch, maybe all, of what it tries to do in other parts of its business canquickly become irrelevant. Maintaining positive investor perception would be alot harder if there was a major HSE&C problem. Secondly, HSE&C is really interesting because it involves people: employees,consultants, contractors, stakeholders, landowners, fishermen, whale-watchersand archaeologists. All shapes, all sizes and all creeds. You name it and we'veprobably dealt with it as part of our HSE&C programme. If there is a third reason why HSE&C is considered to be interesting within ROCit is because it is managed by Neil Seage, ably supported by Don Kratzing who isalso a very special HSE&C executive in a class of his own. We will hear fromNeil immediately after Chris. 4. DEVELOPMENT AND PRE-DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS Slide 7 - Development & Pre-Development Projects After Neil has spoken, Bruce Clement, our Chief Operating Officer, will give youan overview of Chinguetti and some of the eight other fields which reside withinthe Company's portfolio in addition to Cliff Head. Some of these fields are not currently the subject of much public focus althoughsome may move into the development stage within the next several months. Sometimes we think that we are so busy running the day-to-day operations that wedon't spend enough time drawing the attention of the investment community tothis fact. These fields - the next wave of projects heading for ROC's shore -currently represent the future that awaits ROC beyond Cliff Head and Chinguetti. 5. CLIFF HEAD PROJECT Slide 8 - Cliff Head The last senior management presentation will be from Duncan Mitchell, ROC'sProject Manager for the Cliff Head Development. As you might imagine, Duncan hashad a very interesting time over the last many months as Cliff Head delivered aseries of mixed results against an extremely volatile global industry backdropcaused by rising prices and rising costs. As you are aware, the Cliff Head Fieldemerged from this commercial and technical turbulence bruised, but,commercially, intact, albeit somewhat reduced in size. Hopefully, we have seenCliff Head's low point. Now, let's hear from our General Manager - Exploration, Wes Jamieson. ________________________________________________________________________________ ROC OIL COMPANY LIMITED ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER'S ADDRESS (PartII): 3 KEY POINTS Museum of Sydney, Sydney Wednesday 11 May 2005 I have allocated just 5 minutes for the second part of my CEO's address: thesequel as it were. By deliberately constraining the time in which I have todeliver these comments I am hoping to emphasise their importance. I didn't wantto risk loosing their relevance in the midst of a broader, looser commentary.I only want to highlight three points - but they are, I believe, very importantpoints. Slide - ROC: Viewed & Valued as a whole VALUE ROC needs to be viewed and valued in its entirety, not by focussing on itscomponent parts. Investors, not only in Australia but also in Asia and Europe, generally have aperception of ROC that reflects their geographical location. Slide - Globe with Australia & Mauritania In Australia, most shareholders and potential investors, seem to focus on ROC'sactivities in the offshore Perth Basin, particularly at the Cliff Head Oil Fieldand, to a lesser extent, offshore Mauritania. Slide - Globe with China In Asia, the investment community appears to be mainly interested in what theCompany is doing in China - and what it may do in that country in the future. Slide - Globe with UK & West Africa In London most shareholders and investors think of ROC primarily in terms of itsinterests in West Africa and, to a lesser extent, the North Sea. Slide - Bucket of money Of course, everyone, everywhere, sees and understands the cash component of theCompany quite clearly! Slide - Globe The more accurate view is that ROC is more than the sum of its component parts.ROC is certainly more than just some of its parts! The Company should be viewed and valued in its entirety. That is the messagewhich we will try to communicate more clearly to the investment communitybetween now and the next AGM. Slide - Strategy STRATEGY The second of the three points that I would like to emphasise is that ROC has aclear and carefully considered strategy - and that strategy is not subject tochange. It is a strategy which is precisely tuned to the skill set of theCompany's workforce and its corporate ambitions. ROC is an international operating company focussed on opportunities that areundervalued and overlooked, the merits of which are not always immediatelyobvious to other industry participants. "Sensibly contrary" is how we describedthis strategy in ROC's 1999 Initial Public Offering Prospectus - and that is howwe describe it today. Slide - ROC's Portfolio - First contact/entry date Appropriate opportunities are generally identified through ROC's network ofindividual contacts within the industry and investment communities. We have anactive dislike of industry auction rooms and will only visit them in the rareevent that there is a good strategic reason to do so. Often the Company has been able to identify a low cost initial entry point intoa target transaction, usually via an option arrangement. Occasionally we enterinto deals through other doors but we really do like optionality. We can move very quickly but also, when required, we have a deep reserve ofcorporate patience. Our entry into Angola offers ample evidence of this. We like to operate, but realise we can't - and shouldn't - always seek tooperate every project. We're a slave to economic analysis - although in thismarket that can work to your short term detriment. ROC is more risk averse than might be immediately apparent from the geographicalspread of it's acreage. When you mention "sensibly contrary" some people immediately think in terms oflocation, usually a remote and sometimes strange part of the globe. That is nothow we think. Within ROC "sensibly contrary" relates to the opportunity; thelocation is just a by-product. In fact, just over 80% of ROC's net acreage holding around the world is in theUK, Australia and New Zealand - hardly the heights of geographical exotica! -and just over 80% of ROC's total 2005 Budget will be spent in those countries,as will almost 50% of the Company's 2005 Exploration expenditure. Our "sensibly contrary" strategy is no guarantee of success. Sometimes it fails.When that happens we are quick to recognise the "F" word and we cut our lossesas best we can. Sometimes, arguably, quite often, the strategy succeeds. We like it when thathappens, but we never fall in love with our successes. From the vantage point of 2005 we can already see several examples of ourstrategy in success mode, including the acquisition of physical assets onshoreUK in 1999; offshore Perth Basin in 2000; and offshore Mauritania in 2001. It istoo early to comment on the success or otherwise of the acquisitions ROC made inChina in 2002 and New Zealand in 2003. Perhaps, we don't always convey our strategy to the market as clearly as weshould. As a result, some parts of the investment community, particularly inAustralia, may gain the impression that ROC's geographic diversity is synonymouswith poorly defined strategic thinking. Not surprisingly, we think that view iswrong. The main reason that our portfolio is geographically diverse is becausewe have met with a greater spread of success than expected. It is true that thedegree of individual success has not been as great as we would have liked, butwith fields being appraised or developed in China, Australia, Mauritania and theUnited Kingdom, a largely free-carried interest through a deep water welloffshore Equatorial Guinea and an exploration programme that can truly bedescribed as historic, about to start onshore Angola, it is a little difficultto know which part of the portfolio we should divest just so that we will beable to say that the Company is becoming more geographically focussed. It's likea father with seven children being told that seven is too many - it's hard toknow which ones to give back! There is a difference of course: you love yourchildren but, as I said earlier, you never fall in love with your assets. FUTURE Slide - Future: Crystal Ball Trying to forecast the future is a dangerous pastime for any CEO particularly ifhe or she works for a small or mid cap resource company - there are always somany variables beyond his or her control. ROC has deliberately been coy aboutpredicting its future in terms of production etc. When we look at what hashappened to some good faith, technically sincere, production predictions made byother peer companies around the world we don't see any compelling reason toalter this stance. However, the Chinguetti and Cliff Head fields are now firmly headed towardsfirst oil. In both cases the finishing line - or, if you prefer, the startingline - is less than a year away. Therefore, I'll take my courage in both handsand make three predictions: • Firstly, if, by the time of next year's AGM, ROC isn't producing between 5,000 and 10,000 BOPD you will be looking at a very disappointed group of directors and managers. It is not that we expect the Chinguetti and Cliff Head developments to proceed on a, Teflon-like, trouble-free, basis. The offshore oil development business rarely works like that. Of course, there will be hitches and glitches and perhaps, even some delays - all will be keenly observed by, and very obvious to, the market. However, by this time next year, most of these inevitable start-up problems should all have been largely ironed out and the oil should be flowing at 5,000 to 10,000 BOPD, even as we present to the 2006 AGM. • Secondly, as ROC shareholders all of us will experience a number of potential company-making moments between now and next year's AGM. These will be the results of the fully funded exploration drilling programme which is already underway; the largest in the Company's history. The combination of two or more field developments driving a material rise in oil production just as a very aggressive exploration drilling programme unfolds across the globe, is the stuff which oil companies are made of - and it's the stuff that makes oil companies! Slide - Conveyor Belt • Finally, we will continue to move our key projects along the ROC conveyor belt and will do our best to maintain an appropriate supply of new ventures. That is what ROC has done in the past and that's what we intend to do in the future. FINAL COMMENTS Now we will end with something a little unusual. As you are aware, the seismic survey which ROC hopes to commence onshore Angola in the next month or two will be the first on-the-ground exploration activity in that country since 1972. To bring home to all of us just how long ago that is Slide - what else happened in1972 these are the things that were happening around the world at that time.What you are about to see is a 90 second video that started life as a 8mm film home movie in 1964. That was when the first well was drilled in the Cabinda South Block. Happily it was a discovery and resulted in a flow of oil and gas tosurface. While there is nothing that the video can teach us about Health, Safety, Environment and Community matters from a 2005 vantage point it is both unusual and interesting for a company with a permit in a very petroliforous basin that hasn't been explored for 33 years to have a video of the first well that was drilled in the area 41 years ago. *Copies of slides and presentations to the AGM are available on ROC's website.(http://www.rocoil.com.au/Pages/ASX_Releases/2005_Releases/May-2005.html) For further information please contact: Dr John Doran on Tel: +61-2-8356-2000 Fax: +61-2-9380-2635 E-mail: jdoran@rocoil.com.au Or visit ROC's website: www.rocoil.com.au Dr Kevin Hird General Manager Business Development Tel: +44 (0)207 586 7935 Fax: +44 (0)207 722 3919 Email: khird@rocoil.com.au Nick Lambert Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial Tel: +44 (0)207 861 3232 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange