Seascape Energy Regulatory News (SEA)

22 Jun 2005 07:00

Ramco Energy PLC22 June 2005 Press Information 22 June 2005 RAMCO ANNOUNCES EXTENSIONS TO FOUR IRISH LICENSING OPTIONS AND TO A MAJOR OIL SERVICES CONTRACT Ramco Energy plc (Ramco), the Aberdeen based independent exploration andproduction company, announces that it has received extensions to four of itsIrish Licensing Options and to one of its major oil services contracts. Licensing Options The Petroleum Affairs Division of the Ministry for Communications, Marine andNatural Resources in the Republic of Ireland has confirmed the extension, untilDecember 31st 2005 of the Midleton (03/02), Rosscarbery (03/06), East Kinsale(03/10) and Seven Heads Oil (03/05) Licensing Options. These extensions allow time for further work to be completed before concludingwhether to undertake the drilling commitment necessary to secure a longer termExploration Licence over each of the areas. The Midleton acreage (Ramco 100%) lies in an average water depth of 90m,approximately 40km offshore Ireland and some 20km to the northeast and on trendwith the Ballycotton Field, a subsea tie-back to Marathon's Kinsale facility.The producing reservoir in the Ballycotton Field is the Cretaceous Greensand, orA sand, which is the main reservoir in the Kinsale Field and the target of theMidleton block. Two drillable A sand prospects have been identified and thefuture work programme will focus on completing the evaluation of these targetsto make them ready to drill. Immediately to the north of the Seven Heads gas field lies the Rosscarberyacreage (Ramco 77%). This block also has an average water depth of 90m andcontains the Galley Head discovery (48/18-1) which has tested gas at 13 mmscf/dfrom the A sand. A number of other prospective A sand structures have beenidentified and the future work programme will finalise the evaluation of themain prospect to make this ready to drill. The East Kinsale acreage (Ramco 100%) lies to the east of the Kinsale Fieldalong the major basin axis inversion anticline. Reservoir targets are theCretaceous Greensand and Wealden sands lying between the Kinsale Field in thewest and the Ardmore discovery in the east (49/14). Work to date has consistedof mapping the available 2D seismic data, which has identified a number ofleads. Existing seismic data quality is variable and the next step is to carryout seismic reprocessing to improve the reservoir imaging. Midleton, Rosscarbery and East Kinsale are anticipated to be gas prospects andall lie within subsea tie-back range of existing facilities. The Seven Heads Oil acreage (Ramco 74%) lies directly beneath the Seven Headsgas field and covers an area in which three earlier wells achieved flow rates ofbetween 1,300 and 1,600 bopd. The reservoir sands are contained in the Middleand Lower Wealden sands from 4,500 to 7,500ft below sea level. The oil is goodquality (39 to 42 API) but contains high wax levels which may require chemicaltreatment to enable production. Under the terms of a farm-out arrangement for Seven Heads Oil, Ramco is beingcarried through the preliminary technical components of the work programme byIsland Oil & Gas plc (IOG) in exchange for an option to carry Ramco through anappraisal well to test the oil reservoirs. Upon completion of the well andexercise of the option, Ramco would transfer to IOG a 44.4% interest in theacreage, thereby reducing Ramco's interest to 29.6%. Oil Services Ramco is also pleased to announce the extension of a contract with BPExploration. The contract is held through Badentoy Tubular Services (BTS), ajoint venture company owned by Ramco Oil Services Limited, Hunting OilfieldServices (UK) Limited and Sumitomo Corporation Europe Limited. The new agreement extends, a previous 5 year contract to manage BP's tubularinventory until September 2007. The contract, which encompasses OCTG inventorymanagement and the associated tubular storage, handling, preparation, cleaning,coating, inspection, repair and refurbishment of BP's North Sea pipe inventory. The work will be carried out at Badentoy Park, Aberdeen, the operational basefor BTS and the location of the Badentoy "One Stop Shop" which provides acomplete integrated pipe management and tubular maintenance service. Steve Remp, Ramco's Chairman said "Our strategy in the Celtic Sea isto focus on the A sand potential which has been so successful in Marathon'sKinsale and Ballycotton fields. The extensions to these Licensing Options willallow us to complete the work necessary to make some of our prospects ready todrill. We have assembled a strong acreage position offshore Ireland and theseCeltic Sea blocks, together with our carried interest in the FrontierExploration Licence in the Donegal basin, will form the main focus of ourexploration activity over the next year or so." "Our objective is to participate in a multiwell programme offshore Ireland. Wehave successfully farmed out our Donegal acreage for a carry through anexploration well to be drilled next year and we already have in place a farm-outarrangement for our interest in Seven Heads Oil. The substantial interests wehold in these Licensing Options give us plenty of scope to seek further farm outarrangements." RamcoSteven Bertram - Group Financial Director 01224 352 200 College HillNick Elwes 020 7457 2020 Fleishman-Hillard Saunders - DublinMichael Parker 00353 1 618 8450 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange