Last checked at 8 Apr 2009 07:00
PRESS RELEASE
8 April 2009
Tower Resources completes a rig contract with ASCOM for Uganda Drilling
Tower Resources plc ("Tower") (AIM:TRP) is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Neptune Petroleum (Uganda) Limited ("Neptune"), has signed a contract with the ASCOM S.A. Group ("ASCOM") to provide the MBU-125, a mobile land rig to drill Iti-1, Neptune's first commitment well in Uganda Licence EA5.
The Iti-1 well site and camp site are completed and all Government consents are in place. All drilling supplies will be on site shortly and agreements with the necessary service suppliers are close to finalisation in readiness for the rig's arrival. There do not appear to be any serious logistical impediments to transporting the rig to the Iti-1 site. The current best estimate is that the rig will arrive at the well site in early May to commence drilling by mid-month.
Peter Kingston, Chairman of Tower Resources plc commented:
"The Tower Board is delighted that the first well in Uganda is now on a firm schedule and the results of more than three years of evaluation work will soon be tested with the drill bit. Results of drilling by other operators in late 2008 and early 2009 have highlighted the major potential of shallow prospects in the northern region of the Albertine Graben and I believe that EA5 has similar prospectivity."
Contacts:
| Tower Resources plc | www.towerresources.co.uk |
| Peter Kingston, Chairman | 07802 804852 |
|
|
|
| Blue Oar Securities (NOMAD and Boker) |
|
| Romil Patel/Andrew Raca | 020 7448 4400 |
|
|
|
| Aquila Financial Limited (PR) | www.aquila-financial.com |
| Peter Reilly | 0118 979 4100 |
Notes for Editors
The Casco MBU-125 rig is a mobile truck mounted rig which was built in 2007 and it has just completed its first well in Southern Sudan to a depth of 2,847m. The rig was fully inspected by Aberdeen Drilling Consultants on behalf of Neptune during drilling operations of this well and no critical issues were identified during the inspection.
Casco Petroleum Overseas Ltd is the general subcontractor of the ASCOM S.A. Group and has been an operator in Southern Sudan since 2005. ASCOM is a group of companies focusing on oil and gas exploration and production and currently owns fourteen drilling rigs and six workover rigs with operations in three regions, including the Pre-Caspian Basin, Middle East and Eastern Africa. It has two producing fields and three blocks under license and has drilled more than 100 wells with ASCOM itself having a current production of approximately 50,000 BOPD.