VOG.L Regulatory News (VOG)

24 Jul 2006 09:42

Victoria Oil & Gas PLC24 July 2006 Victoria Oil & Gas Plc 24 July 2006 Update on Well 103 and Further Development of West Medvezhye Project, Russia • Well 103 reaches top of first target horizon with gas shows encountered• 2007 development plan to target best estimate gross prospective resources of 680 million barrels of oil equivalent Victoria Oil & Gas Plc ("Victoria" or "the Company") the AIM-quoted oil and gasdeveloper focused on the Former Soviet Union, today announces progress on Well103 at its 100% owned West Medvezhye gas and condensate project (the "Project")in Russia and plans for its 2007 development programme. Well 103Well 103 is located in the central part of the licence area and is targeting sixpotential gas and gas condensate bearing intervals. These are in the lowerNeocomian, Achimov and Upper Jurassic horizons between depths of 3,200 - 3,880metres. In their most recent resource volume statement independent reserveauditors DeGolyer & MacNaughton ("D&M") report a best estimate gross prospectiveresource volume for these intervals of 144 million barrels of oil equivalent. Drilling has reached a depth of 3,090 metres and coring operations will nowcommence as each of these intervals is intersected. Programme for 2007The Company in conjunction with D&M has identified three additional prospectsfor drilling within the Project license area: Well 105: located in the north-western section of the Project targeting theLower Neocomian and Upper Jurassic between 2,800 - 3,700 metres. D&M's bestestimate gross prospective resource volumes are 114 million barrels of oilequivalent. Well 107: located in west of the licence area targeting three potentialintervals in the Lower Neocomian, Upper Jurassic and Achimov between 3,100 -3,500 metres. D&M's best estimate gross prospective resource volumes are 264million barrels of oil equivalent Well 109: located in north-east of the licence area targeting the LowerNeocomian and Achimov between 3,200 - 3,600 metres. D&M's best estimate grossprospective resource volumes are 158 million barrels of oil equivalent These three wells, together with Well 103, cover 68% of D&M's total bestestimate gross resource volume of approximately 1 billion barrels of oilequivalent for the whole Project. Drilling is anticipated to commence at these locations in early 2007 whenconditions permit the mobilisation of equipment. Speaking today, Managing Director William Kelleher said, "We are drilling intothe upper horizon at 103 and are now beginning coring operations. We have seengas shows at intervals immediately above 3,200 metres, which is veryencouraging, but we cannot know whether this is an indication of commercial gasuntil drilling and evaluation is complete. "We have also finalised our 2007 drilling programme to give us exposure torecoverable prospective resource volumes of 680 million barrels of oilequivalent using D&M's best estimate figures." For further information please contact: Kevin Foo / George Donne Leesa Peters/ Laurence ReadVictoria Oil & Gas Plc Conduit PR+44 (0)207 921 8820 +44 (0)207 429 6605 +44 (0)7979 955 923 The information in this release has been reviewed by William Kelleher, SPE, whois a qualified person for the purposes of the AIM Guidance Note for Mining, Oiland Gas Companies. Mr. Kelleher is Managing Director of Victoria Oil & Gas Plc,is qualified as a petroleum engineer and has over 26 years experience in oil andgas exploration and production. Gross Prospective Resources - The total quantities of petroleum that areestimated, on a given date, to be potentially recoverable from undiscovered(undrilled) accumulations. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange