ROSE.L Regulatory News (ROSE)

31 August 2017

Rose Petroleum plc

("Rose", the "Company" or the "Group")

Completion of Seismic Shoot Design Optimisation and Commencement of Field Work in the Paradox Basin

Rose (AIM: ROSE), the AIM quoted natural resources business, is delighted to announce that it has completed the optimisation of the 3D seismic shoot parameters on its oil and gas exploration acreage in the Paradox Basin, Utah (the "Paradox Acreage"). Surveying contractors have been engaged for the initial work programme on the 3D seismic survey and are expected to commence work within days.

As announced on 22 August 2017, the Company has assembled a highly experienced technical and operational team with specific Paradox Basin experience to assist in the completion of the seismic survey. The Company has been working on and now completed the optimisation for a state of the art 3D seismic shoot. The shoot has now been focused on an area of 40 square miles within the 61 square miles permitted area but retained the same coverage over the Rose acreage, cutting out extended areas of the shoot which were not covering Rose's acreage. It has been designed with high fold (greater than 35 fold with offsets up to 10,000-feet) wide-azimuth design which the Directors believe are better parameters than previous surveys in the area. The data will be suitable for azimuthal velocity (HTI) and amplitude versus offset (AVAZ) analyses for fracture characterisation, which, along with correlation to structural features, should allow the Company to predict areas of open natural fractures. It has been designed to tie in the State 16-42 (with modern logs) and the Federal 28-11 (Cane Creek producer) wells.

As previous stated, the Paradox Basin is a natural fracture driven basin, and drilling will target "fracture swarms" which allow commercial flow rates. Hydraulic fracturing is not usually required. The 3D seismic survey is an essential part of identifying these fracture swarms and is therefore an essential path to unlocking the value of the Paradox Acreage.

Dawson Geophysical Inc., who, as previously announced, is contracted to deliver the turn key Seismic shoot has been pre-paid for and instructed to commence the initial survey work segment which is expected to commence imminently.

The seismic shoot will be operated in three segments - surveying; drilling shot holes; and recording or acquiring the data. The survey work provides the foundational fabric of the shoot itself. The surveying lays out and physically marks on the ground four major elements of the shoot - all source points; all receiver points; all cultural sites for avoidance; and, all access corridors. There will be 4,798 total source points marked and numbered from which seismic signals will be generated with either seismic vibrators or shot holes. There will be a total of 6,880 receiver points that run at a 45 degree angle to the source points. There will be a number of survey crews laying out the source and receiver points. The survey crews will mark the access corridors that the vibrators will follow as they track across each square mile. 

Rose intends to commence the survey work within days and the total time it will take to lay out the entire 40 square mile area will be approximately six weeks. This will pave the way for the shot holes to be drilled and the acquisition crew will move in shortly thereafter.

Matthew Idiens, CEO, commented:

"I am delighted with the progress we have made on the optimisation of the designs and the potential savings created by the improvements. Reducing the shoot area to 40 square miles whilst retaining the same coverage of our acreage has enabled a significant reduction in costs without affecting the quality of the data. Surveying work is expected to commence within days which will keep us on track for completion of the shoot by year end.

"We look forward to keeping the market updated in respect of both the progress on the ground and in respect of our future funding options, which are still progressing and we are confident of a positive outcome, hence the commencement of the surveying work."

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