Operations Update

30 Nov 2007 10:59

Melrose Resources PLC30 November 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 30 November 2007 MELROSE RESOURCES PLC ("Melrose" or "the Company") Egyptian operations update Melrose Resources plc (LSE:MRS), the oil and gas exploration, development andproduction company, today provides an update on its operational activities inEgypt. The Company is pleased to announce that first production was established at theWest Dikirnis field in the onshore Nile Delta on 30 November 2007. The fielddevelopment was completed within 12 months of project sanction and came in underbudget. The initial production stream is from the West Dikirnis No.2 well and itis anticipated that output from the field will reach a 10,000 barrels of oil perday by the end of the year as additional wells are opened for production. The EDC-53 drilling rig has recently completed operations on the Buhut No.1 welltargeting a Qawasim exploration prospect located on the El Mansoura concession.The well encountered good reservoir sands with minor gas shows but was notconsidered to be commercially viable as a producer and has been plugged andabandoned. The drilling rig is now moving to drill another Qawasim prospect,West Zahira, which has unrisked mean reserves of 124 billion cubic feet of gasplus hydrocarbon liquids potential and an estimated 30% chance of success. The EDC-9 drilling rig draw works were damaged during transportation betweendrilling locations. While this has caused delays to the drilling programme inthe short term, a replacement draw works has been sourced and is expected to beinstalled by February 2008. In light of this, a third drilling rig has beencontracted to start operations on the El Mansoura concession during the firstquarter of 2008 and any lost time in the drilling programme will be made up inthe first half of 2008. Commenting on the above, David Thomas, Chief Executive, said: "Bringing the West Dikirnis field on production is a significant milestone forMelrose. This is a high quality field which will transform the cash generationof the business in 2008 and beyond. The Melrose team has worked cohesively withour Egyptian joint operating company and again demonstrated our ability to bringfields on stream very rapidly after discovery." For further information please visit www.melroseresources.com or contact: Melrose Resources plc 0131 221 3360David Thomas, Chief ExecutiveRobert Adair, Executive ChairmanMunro Sutherland, Finance Director Buchanan Communications 0207 466 5000Tim ThompsonBen Willey This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange