1. EXPLORATION DRILLING

1.1 Chinguetti-1, Offshore Mauritania (ROC: option to acquire 2.4%)

For details regarding drilling activities at Chinguetti-1 and future operations in the area, shareholders are referred to data placed in the public domain by the operator of the Joint Venture, Woodside Petroleum Limited.

2. APPRAISAL DRILLING

2.1 Chestnut Oil Field, UK North Sea, (ROC: 14.875% carried)

The 22/2a-11x, high angle, appraisal well in the Chestnut Oil Field has reached a Total Depth of approximately 3,749 metres. Drilling results are currently being evaluated with a view to identifying the optimum forward program, including the possibility that an Extended Well Test may be undertaken.

3. DEVELOPMENT PRODUCTION

3.1 UK

The Saltfleetby Gas Field and the Kyle Oil Field continue to perform very satisfactorily, as previously reported. Because both fields are now established, and because the Saltfleetby Gas Field is no longer ROC's sole significant producing asset, the Company will not routinely include reference to these fields in future "Activity Updates" released to ASX, unless there is some significant variance from normal performance expectations.

3.2 Mongolia

ROC continues to produce approximately 120 BOPD from it's field operations at Zuunbayan in Mongolia's Gobi Desert. Approximately 23,000 barrels of oil were produced through the winter period and stored at ROC's tank farm near its field camp. The first oil export for 2001 to China occurred during May when two shipments, totaling about 15,300 barrels of oil were transported in ROC's rail cars to the export sale point on the Mongolian-Chinese border. Prior to end May 2001 the balance of the stored oil will be exported at the border. All Mongolian export oil sales are based on international oil prices.

4. IRAN

For several years ROC has reviewed opportunities in the Islamic Republic of Iran consistent with its stated strategy of increasing its presence in the Middle East. As ROC acquired new projects in other parts of the world it became very obvious that it needed to adopt an innovative approach if it wished to continue its pursuit of new venture opportunities in countries such as Iran while, at the same time, making sure that its in-house executive focus was not dissipated across too broad a portfolio of new and current opportunities.

This logic has led ROC to execute an agreement ('the Agreement") with Tracer Petroleum Corporation ("Tracer"), a publicly listed oil exploration company capitalized at about A$10 million, trading in the United States on the OTC Bulletin Board. For a number of years Tracer's management, which is well known to ROC, has focused on the identification of significant new venture opportunities in Iran, and, to this end they have expended a great deal of time and effort. However, Tracer's financial situation is such that it would be better placed to bring to fruition the various new venture opportunities which it has identified if it had a financial and technical relationship with a larger industry participant.

The essence of the Agreement is that ROC will provide to Tracer a series of staged loans to ensure that Tracer has sufficient working capital to pursue the Iranian project over a period of time up to fifteen months and for a total amount of money up to US$4 million. The agreement includes many options that may be exercised at ROC's discretion as a result of which a wide variety of scenarios are possible including the termination of the loan arrangement after several months, the conversion of ROC's loan into shares in Tracer, the conversion of the loan into shares in the subsidiary company holding the project or the acquisition by ROC of direct equity in the end project. The initial loan from ROC to Tracer will cover a due diligence period of several months and is scheduled to be less than $US200,000.

Commenting on the Agreement, ROC's CEO Dr John Doran stated that:

"As a result of the loan arrangement Tracer is well positioned to move its Iranian projects towards fruition and ROC is well placed to exercise its future corporate judgment as to the best way to proceed in the event that a project satisfies its new venture criteria. This type of arrangement bears some resemblance to that which ROC entered into with Elixir Corporation Pty Limited in relation to offshore Mauritania in April 2000. As such, it is another expression of ROC's sensibly contrary strategy with ROC acting as a financier, albeit a very prudent one, to a smaller oil company with an upside potential which is best realized through the loan of a modest amount of working capital.

Dr John Doran
Chief Executive Officer
E-mail: jdoran@rocoil.com.au

Return to ASX Releases main page

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
THE WALLSTREETREPORTER.COM
HOPE VAUGHN
with
DR JOHN DORAN
CEO, ROC OIL COMPANY LIMITED

WallStreetReporter.Com:
Good afternoon. I'm Hope Vaughn, Senior Analyst for the WallStreetReporter.Com. Today I'm with Dr John Doran, Chief Executive Officer of Roc Oil Company Limited, which trades on the Australian Stock Exchange, ticker symbol "ROC".

WallStreetReporter.Com:
John, welcome to the show.

CEO John Doran:
Thank you Hope. It's a bright morning in Sydney but I'll say good afternoon to you.

WallStreetReporter.Com:
Well thank you for joining us from so far away. Could you briefly introduce and give us some background on Roc Oil?

CEO John Doran:
Yes, certainly. Roc Oil is a small Australian oil company with a very intense international focus. We formed it, Hope, in late 1996 as a private company. We went public through an IPO in 1999 and, basically, we've been somewhat busy since then. We've established production in the UK, both onshore in an area which is not noted for good production - but we happen to have a 100 BCF gas field there - and also, in the North Sea, where our first significant field came onstream, came onto production, in April. We are active, in an exploration sense, offshore West Africa and that would include Mauritania, where we have an option over a new deepwater oil discovery that was made last week.

WallStreetReporter.Com
So then, what do you consider to be your niche areas?

CEO John Doran:
We have two niche areas: one is Australia, the other is the UK. These are areas that investors feel comfortable with; they are where our workforce both in the UK and Australia have cut their teeth, and we have a very experienced workforce. Quite bluntly, we took advantage of the downturn in 1997/98 and handpicked, cherry picked, people out of larger companies when they were being reorganised. And then we have three areas overseas which we call our "big hit" areas - and that's West Africa, selected parts of Asia and we are focusing also on the Middle East where we have some important shareholders.

WallStreetReporter.Com:
Before we get into your portfolio more specifically, what is your strategy? I know that you don't like to go into areas that you don't feel that you have a competitive advantage and if you could explain your strategy for us.

CEO John Doran:
Yeah, certainly. I find it hard to believe that I've been in the oil business almost 30 years - sometimes it feels like 2 years - but over that time one thing you learn: we don't know what the secret of success is, but the secret of failure, in our opinion, is trying to please everybody. That would drive you mad. What you do; you fix your True North - and in our case that's fundamental value - you ignore short term market fashion and quarterly performance and you go after your goal with a degree of obsession. When you put all that together, Hope, we call it being "sensibly contrary". In the oil business, if you're contrary, period, you're likely to go broke. We can't compete with larger companies by using our cheque book. We've got to go to areas where we have an edge, an advantage for whatever reason, and we have to do it differently. "Sensibly contrary" so far has worked out very, very well for us and a previous company, Command Petroleum, which went from $30 million to $400 million in a few years on the basis of the same strategy.

WallStreetReporter.Com:
Now, you recently went into production in the North Sea. Could talk about the status of that particular project?

CEO John Doran:
It's a field called Kyle. It's operated by Ranger, which is a Canadian company that is now owned by Canadian Natural Resources. It's a modest field. Two wells are doing 23,000 barrels of oil a day. We have 12½%. More importantly, it gives us a second production leg. Our first production leg is the gas development we undertook onshore Britain. It turned out in the last two or three years to be Britain's largest onshore gas field, and contrary to all expectations in the industry in the UK, it came on at 50 million cubic feet of gas per day and it's performed much better than we expected ever since. So that is our production base. We're just shy of 9,000 or 10,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day. We have no net debt and, in Australian terms, we have something more than A$60 million in cash.

WallStreetReporter.Com:
And you're currently in exploration in West Africa. Could you talk about the status of that particular project as well?

CEO John Doran:
There is an exciting discovery that has got a fair bit of publicity. It's a discovery by Triton, out of Dallas, in the Rio Muni Basin offshore deepwater Equatorial Guinea. Subsequent to that discovery we were fortunate enough to be able to get 60% equity in a permit, in acreage on trend from that discovery and we are busily interpreting a 3D seismic survey that we've just acquired.
Separately, and probably more germane, we have an option to acquire a small interest, it's only 2.4%, but it covers 18 million acres offshore Mauritania. Mauritania is a West African country. It's that bulge of Africa, you know. No production. The first well results were announced last week - 90 metres, that's about 270 feet, gross oil column. That's not a bad result for an 8½ inch hole in the middle of 18 million unexplored acres. We think we'll probably exercise that option and Mauritania could - it's too early to be dogmatic - but it could, certainly, develop into a new oil exporting country, and Hope, you don't come across these countries too often in 2001.

WallStreetReporter.Com:
So is that why there is so much excitement with West Africa?

CEO John Doran:
Yes. Well, the real excitement flows from Angola, where there have been stunning discoveries. The success rate for exploration has been improved. 3D seismic has unlocked the treasure chest. You have a situation where, typically, one in three exploration wells, in some deepwater basins, could be successful. In the old days it would be one in ten, one in twenty. So the world has changed.

WallStreetReporter.Com:
Now, I know this has been a busy month for you and a busy quarter. We'll start off with the bid for Gulfstream. There's obviously been a lot of discussion around that bid. What was your rationale behind the bid?

CEO John Doran:
I've worked in the Middle East. We have the Middle East as one of our target areas. We have shareholders in Qatar and Qatar is the country where Gulfstream's main assets are located. We didn't start out looking at Gulfstream. We started looking at the Middle East and Qatar. Then we followed the thread and it led to Gulfstream. It seemed to us that at 74¢ Gulfstream was undervalued. We popped an unsolicited bid - and apparently in Canada that means it's hostile, but it isn't hostile to us, it's just unsolicited - and we popped that bid on the table at $1.10/share, a 51% premium, we thought that was a fairly healthy premium. The Gulfstream shares have generally traded $1.60 to $1.80 since the bid, but, Hope, we're very disciplined. We never chase the ask price. If you're in an auction you never chase the bid price. We think we know what Gulfstream is worth. If somebody comes along and thinks it's worth more, good luck to them. The situation in the end with Gulfstream will be very simple. They've had two months. They haven't announced a higher bid. If they do find one - fine. If they don't find one, then there may be reason for them to have a conversation with us. In the meantime, we've got a bunch of other things happening in our corporate world, so, you know, Gulfstream is probably the profile thing that has got ROC's name out there, but there is a lot more fundamental value behind that profile than people realise.

WallStreetReporter.Com:
And what about your own share price? Do you feel that investors really understand ROC Oil and your portfolio and your strategy?

CEO John Doran:
We've learnt: never complain. The world is full of CEOs who bitch and moan about the market not understanding them. That's not us. However, outside Australia the market hasn't been given a chance to understand. There is no ROC profile outside Australia. We came out with our IPO at A$2.00, and then it was downhill because we had an operational problem in the North Sea that was nothing to do with us. It was a third party problem, but, hey, investors, particularly two years ago, were quick to take a view. We, since April last year, have been on the up and in the last week the stock has gone from $1.35 to $1.55/share. As far as we're concerned, anything below $2.00 is failure and if we're still below $2.00 in a year or two, then, you know, we would look at ourselves and say: "that wasn't very good, was it?" Now, we don't have a lot of stock out there. There is about 106 million shares. All the multiples, all the normal parameters which can be picked up on our website, all of them would say we're undervalued but at the end of the day we've got to perform and that's what we intend to do. And, by the way, the previous company I referred to, Command Petroleum, that was undervalued for a year or two, but when it turned, it turned very quickly and that's when most of the hundreds of millions of dollars was added to the stock.

WallStreetReporter.Com:
So then, John, where can keen investors go to find out more about ROC Oil and follow some of your developments this year?

CEO John Doran:
We have a website that - I'm a little embarrassed to say this - but we get a lot of compliments about it, because we put out a lot of stuff. I won't bore you, Hope, but we're into transparency and corporate governance, and if you doubt it, look at the website (www.rocoil.com.au). It's important to get the "au" on the end, otherwise you end up in a totally unrelated company in Melbourne and you confuse them entirely …

WallStreetReporter.Com:
Okay, we'll make sure ---

CEO John Doran:
… they sell refrigerant oil!

WallStreetReporter.Com:
We'll make sure to check that out. Thank you for being with us today.

CEO John Doran:
It's been my pleasure and I hope you have a good afternoon; it looks like a good day in Sydney.

WallStreetReporter.Com:
Thank you. And I'm Hope Vaughn, Senior Analyst for the Wall Street Reporter and today I've been with Dr John Doran, Chief Executive Officer of ROC Oil Company, which trades on the Australian Stock Exchange, ticker symbol "ROC". Have a good day from Wall Street.

Return to ASX Releases main page

NEWS RELEASE

ROC EXTENDS OFFER FOR GULFSTREAM

Offer extended to 6:00 p.m. (Calgary time) on June 5, 2001

CALGARY, May 23, 2001 - Roc Oil Company Limited (ASX:ROC) ("ROC") today announced that it, through its wholly owned subsidiary Roc Oil (Middle East) Pty Limited, has extended the expiry time of its offer to purchase 25,750,000 common shares of Gulfstream Resources Canada Limited (TSE:GUR) ("Gulfstream") for $1.10 per share to 6:00 p.m. (Calgary time) on June 5, 2001, unless withdrawn or further extended. A notice of extension will be mailed to the Gulfstream shareholders shortly.

Commenting upon the extension of the offer, Dr. John Doran, ROC's CEO, stated:

"Despite it now being almost two months since ROC announced its offer, no other strategic alternatives for Gulfstream have been announced. Information now in the public domain suggests that if Gulfstream doesn't announce a solution to its financial problems in the very near future, the company will find that meeting its cash calls will become increasingly challenging. In the absence of a higher bid, Gulfstream's problems will remain unresolved unless they choose to explore a solution in conjunction with ROC."

ROC is an Australian-based energy company with interests in the United Kingdom, Australia, West Africa and selected parts of Asia. The Company has a diverse shareholder base with key shareholders located in Australia, North America, the UK, Asia and the Middle East. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2000, ROC reported cash flow of C$43 million on gross sales revenue of C$70 million and year-end assets of C$229 million. As of March 31, 2001, ROC reported a cash position of C$54 million, a record quarterly revenue of C$20 million and a record net unaudited after tax operating profit of almost C$6 million.

Contact:

Roc Oil Company Limited
Dr. John Doran
Chief Executive Officer
011 61 2 8356 2000

Raymond James Ltd.
Mr. Naveen Dargan
Senior Managing Director
(403) 509-0500

Return to ASX Releases main page

ROC'S CEO ON MAURITANIA, KYLE & GULFSTREAM

Below is a transcript of interview ROC's CEO had with corporate.com

OPEN BRIEFING - ROC's CEO ON MAURITANIA, KYLE & GULFSTREAM

Record of interview:

corporatefile.com
Can you explain Roc Oil Company Limited's ("ROC") involvement in the Area B Joint Venture in Mauritania, which last week and this week reported that the Chinguetti-1 exploration well intersected several oil bearing sandstones over a gross hydrocarbon interval of 90 metres?

CEO John Doran
ROC has an option over 2.4 percent of that Joint Venture. Details were announced to ASX in April 2000 as soon as we acquired the option from the shareholders of the privately owned company Elixir Corporation Pty Ltd. The release is on our website (April 2000 ASX Release).

Although Mauritania's deep water basins are classified as frontier acreage they have been well regarded by the oil and gas industry for a year or two and, therefore, it was difficult to find a cost efficient entry. Fortunately, we were able to secure the option from Elixir's shareholders for US$200,000 in cash.

The option is renewable in April each year with an ultimate expiry date of April, 2003. The option is structured so that it becomes more expensive to exercise as each twelve month period passes, but that means we can exercise the option at no extra cost any time between now and April next year.

One of our aims when we became a public company, less than two years ago, was to construct an offshore West African exploration portfolio with large upside potential. We now have 60 percent and technical management status in the deep water Rio Muni Basin, offshore Equatorial Guinea, where a large, rank wildcat, discovery was made by Triton Energy in 1999. We also operate a joint venture, which includes Woodside, in offshore Senegal, south of Mauritania.

corporatefile.com
What are the terms of converting the option to equity in the Area B Joint Venture?

CEO John Doran
We can convert the option to equity any time between now and April next year by paying about A$3.6 million cash plus an amount of ROC shares to the equivalent value. Since we have more than A$60 million in cash and no net debt that sort of expenditure is well within our comfort zone.

The discovery added $20 million or more to ROC's market capitalisation in a few days, so the logic for exercising the option is fairly compelling. However, we don't need to rush to exercise the option particularly since when Woodside finish at Chinguetti-1, it will immediately drill another well at Courbine-1, so by August we'll know the results of both wells.

corporatefile.com
What is your assessment of the Area B discovery?

CEO John Doran
It's very encouraging - but it's far too early to be definitive.

We couldn't expect to get a better result from the first modern well drilled in this region. It's 27 years since the last and only well was drilled in his region - and it was dry. This latest result is as good as you could hope for but we will have to wait for more drilling results before being able to comment on the real commercial potential of the area.

The Woodside technical team working on Mauritania has done a terrific job. Their Mauritanian team is bigger than ROC's entire Sydney office, which gives some indication of the resources Woodside has poured into this project over a number of years.

corporatefile.com
What might it mean in economic terms for ROC?

CEO John Doran
ROC's option extends over about 18 million acres/73,000 sq. km. but there is no guarantee as to the ultimate value of the area. In theory, it could amount to nothing if future drilling proves that Chinguett-1 was a fluke. However, with the first well being a good oil discovery that would seem to be statistically unlikely.

At the other end of the spectrum there could be considerable upside. Woodside has published information that suggests there are lots of prospects in the area each with the capacity to contain a few to several hundred million barrels. Put a few of those together and you would soon have a reasonable amount of oil.

The results to date will stimulate more work; that will give us more data and then we will be better placed to comment on the long term potential.

Perhaps the broader importance of the discovery is illustrated by Hardman's more than tenfold share price increase in a little over 18 months. It gives the lie once and for all to the myth that in order to get Australian market attention you must have assets in Australia and it goes a long way towards restoring the investors' faith that there are still big gains to be made in the oil and gas sector.

corporatefile.com
What are ROC's prospects in other offshore Mauritania permits or deep water Africa generally?

CEO John Doran
Our Mauritanian option also extends over the offshore acreage operated by the UK-based Dana Petroleum plc. In Equatorial Guinea, we've just acquired and fully funded almost 1,400 square km or A$8 million worth of 3D seismic survey. First pass results look encouraging but the data won't be fully interpreted until late this year. There may be drilling in adjacent areas during 2002. In Senegal, we're expecting to shoot some 2D seismic next year.

In terms of the recent discovery at Mauritania, Equatorial Guinea is about where Mauritania was a year or eighteen months ago. Senegal is where Mauritania was two or three years ago. This is consistent with ROC's strategy of having a conveyor belt of prospects in West Africa each at different stages of maturity so that the prospect inventory is continually refreshed.

Comparisons have been drawn between Mauritania and previous deep water success stories such as Angola and the Gulf of Mexico. If everything goes well over the next five years that could prove to be a fair comment. At the moment, it is far too premature to speculate. One positive thing though is that the tools now available to the explorer in these deep water areas have greatly increased the chance of exploration success. The days of 1 in 10 success rates are probably long gone; in many deep water basins the more common rate is now closer to 1 in 3.

corporatefile.com
The Kyle Oil Field (ROC 12.5%) has averaged almost 20,000 BOPD (net ROC: 2500 BOPD) since start up on 7 April 2001, 15 months behind schedule. Is Kyle now performing to expectations?

CEO John Doran
Yes. Before we started production at Kyle we suggested to the market it might produce 16,000 BOPD (net ROC: 2,000 BOPD) and it is clearly outperforming that estimate. We will drill a third well in the next few months.

The start-up delay was due to a third party problem with a totally separate facility and therefore it was completely out of our hands. These things happen when you're in the resource business. One of the fears the market may have had was that we would miss the higher oil prices that prevailed in January 2000. As things turned out, with oil hugging US$30/barrel, there was no need to worry.

corporatefile.com
What production profile do you expect from Kyle?

CEO John Doran
Subject to the number of wells we drill and their performance, Kyle should go for four to seven years.

corporatefile.com
How significant is Kyle to ROC?

CEO John Doran
Kyle is important to ROC for a couple of reasons. It gives us our second significant producing asset and it increases the percentage of our oil production compared to our gas production. Before Kyle, 85 percent of our production was from our Saltfleetby Gas Field (ROC 100%) and only 15 percent was oil and condensate (liquids) - and we benefited hugely from the strong UK gas price. Now we are 65 percent gas and 35 percent liquids and that's a better balance, particularly with the strong oil price.

corporatefile.com
In April 2001, ROC announced a cash offer to acquire 25.75 million shares (40 percent) of Toronto-listed Gulfstream at C$1.10/share. We discussed your Gulfstream offer in an Open Briefing interview on 10th April. What feedback have you had about whether the bid might be accepted?

CEO John Doran
Since making our bid, Gulfstream shares have traded as high as C$1.80. On that basis, the market probably expects our bid to fail, unless there is a price collapse, which could happen if Gulfstream do not announce an alternative solution shortly.

Our offer is due to expire on Wednesday evening, 23 May, 2001, Calgary time. Understandably, the Gulfstream board is busily trying to solicit alternative bids - which is exactly what they should be doing. So far they haven't announced any despite the fact that we are now into the eighth week since our offer was announced.

In the end it will be very simple: Gulfstream will either flush out a better offer or a bid for the assets or they won't achieve either. If they don't find a higher offer then I guess they'll have to give further thought about ROC's bid - if our bid is still current. We can't see any reason to increase our bid price.

corporatefile.com
What has been the Gulfstream board's reaction to your bid?

CEO John Doran
They have put more information into the public domain. That has provided us and other market watchers, with much more insight into the company. Gulfstream has opened a data room and they say there have been many interested parties but, to date, nothing concrete has come out of that process. We have not been allowed access to the data room although we have requested it.

corporatefile.com
At the time of the offer, the key benefit to ROC was to be that its oil and gas reserves would rise by more than 70 percent, based on public data. That is mainly through Gulfstream's 65 percent stake in the Al Rayyan Oil Field in Qatar. However, subsequent market releases by Gulfstream show that probable reserves have been downgraded. How does this new information affect your offer?

CEO John Doran
It has given us cause to pause. It certainly doesn't encourage us to raise the offer. It's always possible that, if we get access to the data room, we may see information that would lead us to increase our offer but on the data we've seen, why would we offer to pay more money?

corporatefile.com
Based on public data, Al Rayyan is expected to be producing in excess of 25,000 barrels a day by the end of next year. Has Gulfstream indicated yet how they will fund their share of this development?

CEO John Doran
Not to our knowledge. We believe that Al Rayyan can be project financed, as long as the company contributes an equity component. No normal financial institution lends 100 percent against an overseas resource development.

corporatefile.com
You are seeking three seats on a board of five. What expertise does ROC bring to help Gulfstream add shareholder value from Al Rayyan and its other asset - a gas field at the appraisal stage in Oman (100%)?

CEO John Doran
We make mistakes like any other management team, but we have a very clear and well proven track record in terms of adding fundamental value and corporate governance. ROC and before that, Command Petroleum, have created value from under-appreciated and often unfashionable assets, albeit, not always in sync with the movement of the share price. That is where the investor opportunity lies with companies like ROC; the frequent lag between industry achievement and market recognition.

corporatefile.com
The offer for Gulfstream is subject to several caveats. Has Gulfstream indicated whether it will remove any of these impediments to the offer proceeding?

CEO John Doran
No, we've had no discussion in that regard. Their public statements have been focused on finding a higher bidder.

corporatefile.com
What are the next key events in the bid for Gulfstream?

CEO John Doran
There are two key events coming up. On Wednesday, 23 April 2001 (Calgary time), we've got to decide whether or not we'll extend the bid. Secondly, we await an announcement by Gulfstream on an alternative solution to our bid and the funding the Al Rayyan development.

corporatefile.com
How would you sum up the events for ROC during the last month or so?

CEO John Doran
We've increased our production significantly through the Kyle Oil Field (12.5%) coming on in the North Sea, we've had a wild cat exploration success in deepwater offshore Mauritania and we've launched an unsolicited bid for a Canadian company with assets in the Middle East. So, all things considered, we've been quite busy really.

All this occurred against a backdrop of continuing strong performance from our 100% owned Saltfleetby Gas Field in the UK which boosted our March quarter 2001 sales revenue to a record A$26 million and a record A$7.5 million in unaudited after tax profit. I guess we've had worse months and worse quarters!

corporatefile.com
Thank you John.

Return to ASX Releases main page

1. EXPLORATION DRILLING

1.1 Chinguetti-1, Offshore Mauritania (ROC: option to acquire 2.4%)

As advised in various releases to ASX, initially on 14 April 2000 and more recently on 20 April 2001, and as also outlined in ROC's letter to ASX of 16 May 2001, ROC has an option to acquire all the shares of Elixir Corporation Pty Limited ("Elixir") which has a 2.4% interest in Area B located in deep water offshore Mauritania, where operations are currently underway at the Chinguetti-1 exploration well location. The operator of the well, Woodside Petroleum Ltd ("Woodside") yesterday released to ASX an activity update which indicated the well had encountered several oil-bearing sandstones within an 86 metre gross hydrocarbon column. It is anticipated that further well data will be made available by the Operator as and when appropriate.

Commenting on the Mauritanian drilling results, ROC's CEO, Dr John Doran stated that:

"While all relevant technical details will flow from Woodside as Operator, ROC shareholders need to be aware that although the equity under option to ROC may be small, it is appropriate for a region where a dry exploration well can cost A$40 million. ROC shareholders should view the Company's interest in Block B as simply being part of ROC's entitlement to interests ranging from 2.0% to 2.7% covering virtually all of the sedimentary basins offshore Mauritania. Regionally, ROC's Mauritanian option is part of the West African portfolio which the Company has put together during the last eighteen months, and which includes areas offshore Senegal, immediately south of Mauritania, where ROC operates on behalf of a Joint Venture that also includes Woodside, as well as Blocks H15 and 16 in the Rio Muni Basin offshore Equatorial Guinea where ROC is Technical Manager. Therefore, both in a detailed and a broader context, ROC considers Chinguetti-1 to be a reasonable first step in what will prove to be a long term exploration effort in a part of the world which is only now emerging as a significant global petroleum province."

2. APPRAISAL DRILLING

2.1 Chestnut Oil Field, UK North Sea, (ROC: 14.875% carried)

The John Shaw rig is continuing with the final hole section of the 22/2a-11x well, a high angle appraisal well of the Chestnut Field.

3. DEVELOPMENT

3.1 The Kyle Oil Field, UK North Sea, (ROC: 12.5%)

The Kyle Oil Field has averaged almost 20,000 BOPD (net ROC: 2500 BOPD) since start up on 7 April 2001. Production has been from two horizontal wells. Current daily rates are steady at about 22,000 BOPD (net ROC: 2750 BOPD). The first lifting of Kyle crude occurred on 26 April 2001 and the second lifting took place on 13 May 2001.

Dr John Doran
Chief Executive Officer
E-mail: jdoran@rocoil.com.au

Return to ASX Releases main page

NEWS RELEASE

ROC'S NOTICE OF EXTENSION FOR GULFSTREAM RESOURCES CANADA LIMITED

Click to view ROC's Notice of Extension dated 11th May 2001

Return to ASX Releases main page

NEWS RELEASE

ROC EXTENDS OFFER FOR GULFSTREAM

Offer Extended to 6:00 p.m. (Calgary time) on May 23, 2001
ROC confirms request for access to Gulfstream data room

CALGARY, May 8, 2001 - Roc Oil Company Limited (ASX:ROC) ("ROC") today announced that it, through its wholly owned subsidiary Roc Oil (Middle East) Pty Limited, has extended the expiry time of its offer to purchase 25,750,000 common shares of Gulfstream Resources Canada Limited (TSE:GUR) ("Gulfstream") for $1.10 per share to 6:00 p.m. (Calgary time) on May 23, 2001, unless withdrawn or further extended. A notice of extension will be mailed to the Gulfstream shareholders shortly.

ROC further announced that it has renewed its earlier denied request for access to Gulfstream's data room and is awaiting a response.

ROC is an Australian-based energy company with interests in the United Kingdom, Australia, West Africa and selected parts of Asia. The Company has a diverse shareholder base with key shareholders located in Australia, North America, the UK, Asia and the Middle East. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2000 ROC reported cash flow of C$43 million on gross sales revenue of C$70 million and year-end assets of C$229 million. As of March 31, 2001 ROC reported a cash position of C$54 million, a record quarterly revenue of C$20 million and a record net unaudited after tax operating profit of almost C$6 million.

Contact:

Roc Oil Company Limited
Dr. John Doran
Chief Executive Officer
011 61 2 8356 2000

Raymond James Ltd.
Mr. Naveen Dargan
Senior Managing Director
(403) 509-0500

Return to ASX Releases main page

1. APPRAISAL DRILLING

1.1 UK Onshore: Eskdale-13, Licence PEDL002 (ROC: 5% free carried)

The Kirkham Abbey Limestone, one of the reservoir targets for this well, has now been tested and flowed water. The test results are currently being reviewed and an evaluation of the other target zones of the well is being considered. The well has been temporarily suspended until the end of the bird nesting season in September 2001 and operations are expected to recommence at that time.

1.2 UK North Sea: 22/2a-11y Chestnut Oil Field, Licence P354
(ROC: 14.875% carried)

At 0600 hours local time on 3 May 2001, the rig was running into the hole with a drilling assembly to commence drilling through the casing shoe. The forward programme is to drill a near horizontal section of approximately 750 metres through the Nauchlan reservoir sand.

Dr John Doran
Chief Executive Officer
E-mail: jdoran@rocoil.com.au

Return to ASX Releases main page

NEWS RELEASE

ROC COMMENTS ON GULFSTREAM'S
NOTICE OF CHANGE TO DIRECTORS' CIRCULAR

Significant reduction in reserves compared to Gulfstream's 2000 Annual Report
No guidance on financing to meet US$140 million capital requirements
Still no information about any alternative offer after four weeks
All of which suggests a decline in the value of a financially challenged company
ROC's Board now reviewing the merits of the current bid versus a direct cash injection

CALGARY, May 2, 2001 - Roc Oil Company Limited (ASX:ROC) ("ROC") today commented on the Notice of Change to Directors' Circular (the "Notice") issued by Gulfstream Resources Canada Limited (TSE:GUR) ("Gulfstream") on April 30, 2001.
____________________________________________________________________________________

ROC's response to Gulfstream's Notice is summarized below:

The information contained in the Notice is bad news for Gulfstream shareholders. It reveals a significant decline in reserves and a company that is financially challenged. There is nothing in the Notice that would cause ROC to increase the value of its $1.10/share cash offer to acquire 40% of Gulfstream announced on April 2, 2001.

A full month after ROC's offer was announced, Gulfstream has still not provided any details about alternative offers or any potentially interested parties.

The March 31, 2001 reserve estimates by Gulfstream's independent petroleum engineers, Sproule International Limited ("Sproule"), contained in the Notice are significantly less than those referred to in Gulfstream's 2000 Annual Report published in February 2001. Probable oil reserves in the Al Rayyan field in Qatar are down by 45% based on futures pricing and down 40% based on Sproule's price forecast. Proved and probable oil reserves in this field are down by over 14%. Probable gas reserves in the Hafar gas development in Oman are down by more than 25% while Hafar's proved and probable reserves are down by about 8%.

In stark contrast to Gulfstream's 2000 Annual Report, the summary of the Sproule reserve report included in the Notice is strangely silent with regard to the 63.8 million barrels of probable oil reserves the Annual Report attributes to Gulfstream's working interest share in Block 11 in Qatar. The strong implication is that Sproule does not consider these reserves to be part of Gulfstream's reserve inventory.

Neither does the Notice make any mention of the status of the negotiations relating to the reinstatement of the marketing rights to natural gas from the North Field in Qatar, although the Annual Report contained encouraging comments about the hoped-for outcome of those discussions.

Gulfstream is increasingly illiquid. This is the result of the imbalance between the company's capital expenditure obligations and its cash flow. The Notice states that "the Corporation has a working capital deficiency of approximately $21 million" and that "Gulfstream has significant additional capital requirements of approximately US$140 million". Most tellingly, the Notice also states that "the ability of the Corporation to meet its financial obligations and realize its assets is dependent upon the continued support of its joint venture partners and lenders and obtaining the additional sources of financing". These are not the sort of comments that would cause a company to increase its perception of the true worth of Gulfstream. Perhaps, that is why the Notice does not include a valuation of Gulfstream as a corporate entity. You can talk all day about the value of a million dollar house you are building but if you haven't got the capacity to pay for the construction it is all pretty irrelevant.

Finally, the Notice does nothing to reduce the C$7 million in resignation or termination payments which two key directors will expect to receive if they leave the company in the event that a third party acquires more than a 15% shareholding. In fact, the Notice reveals that Gulfstream's board continues to enter into financial arrangements with directors without disclosing relevant details. Specifically, the Notice states that on April 30, 2001, the Board of Directors of Gulfstream finalized and ratified a definitive consultancy agreement with Bowden Consultancy Services Limited ("Bowden"), a Corporation controlled by a non-executive director, Mr. Patrick de Pelet. Under the terms of this agreement, Bowden will provide the services of Mr. de Pelet to advise on and coordinate the financings of Gulfstream's fields in Qatar and Oman. Bowden will receive unspecified per diem payments and an unspecified success fee based on the principal amount of debt financing secured. However, Bowden's entitlement in the event of early termination of the consultancy agreement is specified: a payment based on 0.5% of the principle amount of debt financing secured. According to other details contained in the Notice, this early termination payment could be as large as US$0.7 million, which leaves the magnitude of the success fee that Bowden would receive a matter of conjecture.

Commenting upon the Notice, Dr. John Doran, ROC's CEO, stated:

"There comes a time in every transaction when you have to reset your corporate compass to make sure you don't lose sight of True North. The purpose of ROC's offer to Gulfstream shareholders was not to initiate the exchange of corporate comment and executive spin with the directors of Gulfstream. Nor was it simply to acquire a 40% shareholding in Gulfstream regardless of cost. The offer was designed to allow ROC to become a substantial shareholder in Gulfstream through a fair value investment so that it could then work together with other shareholders to add value to the company. The offer was made on the basis of information available in the public domain at that time. Now, as a direct result of our offer, more information has been brought out into the sunlight. Unfortunately for Gulfstream, this information does nothing to enhance the value of the company. In fact, it is difficult to avoid the view that the company is worth less than ROC's offer. Gulfstream's financial circumstances are more challenging than indicated by previously published information. Also, it is always a little difficult to increase your valuation of a company when its reserves are going in the opposite direction.

On the basis of all the currently available data, ROC's Board of Directors is now considering whether shareholders in both companies might derive greater mutual benefit if ROC offered to inject fresh capital into Gulfstream rather than put money into the pockets of departing Gulfstream shareholders. In this context, ROC has received a number of unsolicited enquiries from potential sources of additional finance, which, together with ROC's own substantial discretionary cash position, are of a magnitude that would significantly improve Gulfstream's financial standing.

In the above context, and subject to the relevant confidentiality agreement being acceptable, ROC will seek access to Gulfstream's data room in the belief that if Gulfstream's directors wish to act in the best interests of their shareholders they will grant ROC's request.

Gulfstream's Notice makes it very clear that the financial future of the company depends upon its joint venture partners and lenders but Gulfstream shareholders also need to be aware that the future of every international oil company is ultimately dependent upon the host government of the country in which its operations are located. Therefore, although the data room in Calgary is an important part of the Gulfstream corporate jigsaw, there are many other pieces of the puzzle that a potential purchaser or investor will need to gather together and take into account, including the need for accurate insights into the Middle East. While ROC has not visited the Gulfstream data room, it certainly has some of the other jigsaw pieces firmly in place: it has access to significant funding and, most importantly, it has the necessary level of comfort with, and knowledge of that part of the world where Gulfstream's key assets are located, Qatar and Oman."

ROC's offer to acquire 40% of Gulfstream's issued and outstanding common shares is currently open for acceptance until 6.00 pm (Calgary time) on Tuesday, May 8, 2001.

ROC is an Australian-based energy company with interests in the United Kingdom, Australia, West Africa and selected parts of Asia. ROC has a diverse shareholder base with key shareholders located in Australia, North America, the UK, Asia and the Middle East. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2000 ROC reported cash flow of C$43 million on gross sales revenue of C$70 million and year-end assets of C$229 million. As of March 31, 2001 ROC reported a cash position of C$54 million, a record quarterly revenue of C$20 million and a record net unaudited after tax operating profit of almost C$6 million.

Contact:

Roc Oil Company Limited
Dr. John Doran
Chief Executive Officer
011 61 2 8356 2000

Raymond James Ltd.
Mr. Naveen Dargan
Senior Managing Director
(403) 509-0500

Return to ASX Releases main page