Rockpool Acqui Regulatory News (ROC)

20 Feb 2008 07:01

Roc Oil Company Limited20 February 2008 20 February 2008 ROC OIL COMPANY LIMITED ("ROC") STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE DRILLING ACTIVITY UPDATE: EXPLORATION/APPRAISAL DRILLING 1. Block 22/12, Beibu Gulf, Offshore China (ROC: 40% & Operator) Roc Oil (China) Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of ROC, advises that sinceits last Stock Exchange Release on 13 February 2008, the Premium "Murmanskaya"jack-up rig has re-spudded the Wei 6-12E well as Wei 6-12E-1A. The well was required to be re-spudded due to problems associated withretrieving stuck drill pipe. Wei 6-12E-1A is located approximately two metresfrom the original hole. The well's target remains unchanged: astratigraphic-structural prospect, approximately 1.7 kilometres east of the Wei6-12S-1 oil discovery. As at 0600 (local time) on 20 February 2008 the well had been drilled to 253mBRT and the current operation is repairing the top drive. Wei 6-12E-1A, the second of the planned three well exploration/appraisal.programme in Block 22/12, Beibu Gulf, offshore China, is expected to reach theproposed Total Depth of approximately 2,520 mBRT by early March 2008. Participating Interests in Block 22/12 Joint Venture are: Roc Oil (China) Company..............................40% (Operator)Horizon Oil Limited..................................30%Petsec Petroleum*....................................25%Oil Australia Pty Ltd**...............................5% The above interests are subject to Government participation in developments ofup to 51%*a subsidiary of Petsec Energy Ltd **a subsidiary of First Australian Resources 2. WA-286-P, Perth Basin, Offshore Western Australia (ROC: 37.5% & Operator) Roc Oil (WA) Pty Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of ROC, advises that sinceits last Stock Exchange Release on the 13 February 2008, the Premium "WilCraft"jack-up drilling rig has drilled the Frankland-2 appraisal well to a depth of1,579 mBRT, after setting 340mm casing at 1026 mBRT. As at 20 February 2008 drilling operations have been temporarily suspended dueto a cyclone warning. In the event that cyclonic activity increases, as perstandard operating procedures non essential crew will be transported to shoreand remaining crew will undertake storm preparations and other duties asrequired. Frankland-2 is an appraisal well approximately one kilometre north-east of the2007 Frankland-1 gas discovery and is the second of the planned two wellexploration/appraisal programme in the region. Frankland-2 is scheduled to reachthe proposed Total Depth of 2,278 metres by the end of February, 2008. Participating Interests in the WA-286-P joint venture are: Roc Oil (WA) Pty Limited.............................37.5%AWE Oil (Western Australia) Pty Ltd..................27.5%ARC Energy (Offshore PB) Limited.....................30.0%CIECO Exploration and Production (Australia) Pty Ltd..5.0% 3. Offshore Mauritania - PSC Area C, Block 6 (ROC: 5 %) Roc Oil (Mauritania) Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of ROC, advises that theAtwood "Hunter" drilling rig arrived on the Khop-1 well location in PSC Area C,Block 6, on 14 February 2008. The rig commenced drilling the Khop-1 exploration well at 1700 hours (localtime) on 17 February 2008. The well is located approximately 70 kilometres offthe Mauritanian coast. Participating Interests in the PSC Area C, Block 6 are: Roc Oil (Mauritania) Company..........................5.000%PC Mauritania I Pty Ltd (Operator)...................37.578%Petronas Carigali Overseas Sdn Bhd...................35.000%Tullow Oil plc.......................................22.422% In accordance with ASX and AIM Rules, the information in this Release has beenreviewed and approved by Dr John Doran, Chief Executive Officer, Roc Oil CompanyLimited, BSc (Hons) Geology, MSc and PhD. Dr Doran, who is a member of theSociety of Petroleum Engineers, has more than 30 years of relevant experiencewithin the industry and consents to the information in the form and context inwhich it appears. Damian FisherGeneral ManagerExternal Affairs & Investor Relations For further information please contact: Dr John Doran on Tel: +61-2-8356-2000 Fax: +61-2-9380-2635 Email: jdoran@rocoil.com.au Or visit ROC's website: www.rocoil.com.au Dr Kevin Hird General Manager - Business Development Tel: +44 (0)20 7495 5707/+61 (0)2 8356 2000 Mob: +44 (0)7751 3671 49/+61 (0)417 261 727 Email: khird@rocoil.com.au Michael Shaw Oriel Securities Limited (Nominated Adviser) Tel: +44 (0)20 7710 7600 Bobby Morse Buchanan Communications Tel: + 44 (0)20 7466 5000 Fax: + 44 (0)20 7466 5001 E-Mail: bobbym@buchanan.uk.com Mob: +44 (0)7802 875 227 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange