| OCTOBER 2001- RELEASES |
| ACTIVITY UPDATE (25-10-01) |
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SUMMARY · UK Drilling and testing activities continue 1. DEVELOPMENT DRILLING 1.1 Saltfleetby Gas Field (ROC: 100%) At 0600 hrs
on 24 October (UK time) the Saltfleetby-6 appraisal / development well
had reached 75/8 inch casing point
of 1,844 m MDBRT and was conducting a wiper trip prior to running casing.
The well is targeting the previously undrilled southern culmination of
the Saltfleetby structure and, as such, it is relatively high risk. 2. PRODUCTION TESTING 2.1 Chestnut Oil Field Extended Well Test ("EWT"), UK North Sea (ROC: 14.875% carried) At 0600 hrs
on 24 October 2001 (UK time) EWT production from well 22/2a-11x was temporarily
suspended due to adverse weather conditions. Prior to suspension, the
production rate had been varied to provide additional performance data. Dr
John Doran |
| SHAREHOLDER'S UPDATE (23-10-01) |
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SHAREHOLDER'S UPDATE Under separate cover, ROC is sending out a hard copy of one of its regular Shareholders' Update to all of the Company's more than 6,000 shareholders in accordance with the Company's practice of maintaining a maximum level of direct communication with its shareholders. Most of the Shareholders' Update is based upon information already released by ROC to ASX including the Company's Report to the ASX on Activities for the Quarter ended 30 June 2001 released on 30 April 2001 and released on 31 July 2001. Dr
John Doran |
| ACTIVITY UPDATE (18-10-01) |
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SUMMARY · Saltfleetby-6 appraisal/development well drilling continues · North Sea development drilling and extended well testing ("EWT") operations continue · Exploration well spudded in Mongolia · Saltfleetby gas compression increases field production by 20% 1. DRILLING 1.1 Saltfleetby Gas Field, Onshore UK (ROC: 100%) On 17 October 2001 drilling of the Saltfleetby-6 appraisal/development well had progressed to a measured depth of 1,095 metres. This represents a significant increase in drilling rate by comparison with previous Saltfleetby field wells. Hole inclination has been built to 44 degrees and this will be maintained to the next casing point expected at a measured depth of 1,823 metres. The Saltfleetby-6 appraisal/development well is targeting the, previously undrilled, southern culmination of the Saltfleetby structure. Ultimately, the well is planned to penetrate the reservoir sands at an angle of 60 degrees and, if viable hydrocarbons are confirmed, a horizontal sidetrack will be drilled. The planned total measured depth of the well is 3,400 metres including 400 metres of horizontal drilling.
2.1 Chestnut Oil Field EWT, UK North Sea (ROC: 14.875% carried) At 0600 hrs on 16 October 2001, (UK time) the EWT on well 22/2a-11x was continuing as planned at about 13,000 BOPD. Cumulative oil production since the EWT started on 26 July 2001 is now some 720,000 barrels, approaching 60% of the 1.25 million barrels allowed under the testing consent.
3.1 Saltfleetby Gas Field, UK Onshore (ROC: 100%) As reported last week, the Saltfleetby Gas Field went onto compression on 5 October 2001. All four producing wells are now on compression and production rates have increased by approximately 20%, from 30 MMSCFD to 36 MMSCFD, in line with expectations. Dr
John Doran |
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ROC EXPANDS WEST AFRICAN PORTFOLIO (18-10-01) |
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1. KEY POINTS · ROC has acquired a 45% interest in the Cabinda South Block (the "Block"), onshore Angola. · The Block is immediately adjacent to Angola's main oil producing area where more than 4.5 billion barrels of oil have been discovered during the last 40 years. · For non-technical reasons, the Block has not been the scene of any exploration activity for 30 years despite being on structural trend from the offshore discoveries. · The acquisition has its origins in early 1998 when ROC first identified the area as a property that had the potential to become a valuable part of the Company's emerging West African portfolio.
ROC is very pleased to advise that the Ministry of Finance of the Government of the Republic of Angola has published a decree in the Diary of the Republic approving ROC's acquisition of a 45% interest in the Cabinda South Block (the "Block") from Fina Oil and Gas Cabinda BV, an affiliate of TotalFinaElf ("TFE"). Under the terms of its agreement with TFE, ROC is not required to provide any consideration for the farmin until production has been established, at which time ROC will provide TFE with approximately US$700,000. The Block covers 1,080 sq km/267,000 acres approximately 450km north of Luanda the national capital. During the last 40 years the offshore area immediately to the west and to the north of the Block has been the scene of spectacularly successful exploration, which has resulted in the discovery of more than 4.5 billion barrels of oil (Attachment 1). Consequently, offshore Cabinda is currently Angola's main oil producing area. Several of the large offshore fields are associated with structural trends that run south-eastwards towards the Block. Geologically, the Block is part of the Lower Congo Basin, one of West Africa's most prolific oil producing provinces. However, for a variety of historical and non-technical reasons, the Block has not been subjected to any exploration since the early 70s when it was relinquished by Gulf Oil Company (Gulf). Only 10 wells have been drilled into the pre-salt sequence, which is now recognised as one of the main plays in the area; only seven of those wells reached basement. All of the wells are believed to have been located on gravity data and surface geology without any reference to seismic. Despite the lack of seismic control, several of the wells recorded significant oil and/or gas shows and, in some cases, modest flows (Attachment 1). The other co-venturers in the Block are Sonangol (20%), the National Oil Company of the Republic of Angola, which is carried through the exploration stage by the non-Government parties; Force Petroleum (20%), a privately owned company based in the UK and Lacula Oil Company Limited (15%). A Production Sharing Agreement ("PSA") has already been agreed between the non-Government and Government parties to the Cabinda South Joint Venture. This agreement will become effective when all the joint venturers and the relevant Government authorities agree that it is appropriate to resume on-the-ground exploration activities in the block. ROC is hopeful, but cannot guarantee, that this will happen within the next 12-24 months. Prior to the PSA's effective date being triggered, ROC will continue to review all the available technical data and undertake further geological studies in preparation for the re-commencement of exploration operations. These pre-effective date activities will represent a more detailed extension of an intermittent technical review of the area, which ROC has been conducting since it first focussed on the region's potential in early 1998. 3. CEO'S COMMENTS Commenting on the transaction, ROC's Chief Executive Officer, Dr. John Doran, stated that: "Angola,
one of Africa's top oil producing nations, has enjoyed a tremendous run
of exploration successes over a long period of time. Because of this,
the foreign element of Angola's oil industry is dominated by large multinational
companies. Against this backdrop, ROC, as an independent Australian oil
company, welcomes the opportunity to become part of the Angolan oil exploration
community - particularly since we have been waiting 3½ years for
the opportunity to include this area as part of our West African portfolio." Dr
John Doran |
| ACTIVITY UPDATE (11-10-01) |
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SUMMARY · Saltfleetby-6 development well drilling · North Sea; development drilling and extended well testing ("EWT") continue · Gas compression commences at Saltfleetby Gas Field, individual well production up 20% · Part of first half 2002 oil production hedged at US$25.90/bbl ·
Net after tax profit in excess of A$1.0 million from sale of peripheral
0.46% interest in the Claymore Field, offshore North Sea 1. DRILLING 1.1 Saltfleetby Gas Field, Onshore UK (ROC: 100%) Drilling
has continued on the Saltfleetby-6 appraisal/development well which is
targeting the, previously undrilled, southern culmination of the Saltfleetby
structure. A 14¾ inch hole has been drilled to 650 metres and 10¾
inch casing has been set at 647 metres. The well is being directionally
drilled and the angle has already been built to 17 degrees. Ultimately,
the well is planned to penetrate the reservoir sands at an angle of 60
degrees and, if viable hydrocarbons are confirmed, a horizontal sidetrack
will be drilled At 0600 on 9 October 2001 (UK time) the Kyle development well, 29/2c-14a, was being prepared for flow checking from the Palaeocene sands. The well, the third production well in the Kyle Field, is the first designed to produce from the Palaeocene sands lying above the fractured Cretaceous chalk which is already producing.
2.1 Chestnut Oil Field EWT, UK North Sea (ROC: 14.875% carried) At 0600 on 9 October (UK time) the EWT on well 22/2a-11x was continuing as planned at about 13,000 BOPD. Oil production since the EWT started on 26 July 2001 is some 670,000 barrels, over half of the 1.25 million barrels allowed under the testing consent.
3.1 Saltfleetby Gas Field, UK Onshore (ROC: 100%) On 5 October 2001, the first well in the Saltfleetby Gas Field went onto compression. Compression had originally been expected to start 12 months ago but the field's better than expected production performance caused compression to be delayed. Compression is proceeding one well at a time. As at Wednesday, 10 October 2001 three of the four producing wells were on compression and the individual well gas rates have increased by about 20%. Compression is expected to be completed during next week. When compression is complete, ROC expects production from the Field to increase by about 6 MMSCFD from the pre-compression production levels of 30 MMSCFD.
4.1 2002 Oil Price Hedging ROC, through wholly owned subsidiaries in the UK, has entered into oil price hedging contracts with Barclays Capital covering a portion of the Company's 2002 oil production. An oil price hedge, covering 181,000 barrels of oil over the period from 1 January 2001 to 30 June 2002 was implemented at an average Brent oil price of US$25.90 per barrel. The volume hedged represents less than 50% of ROC's anticipated production for that period. 4.2 2001 Oil and Gas Price Hedging ROC's existing oil and gas price hedging for the remainder of 2001 held through wholly owned UK subsidiaries comprises: · An oil price hedge covering 184,000 barrels of oil over the period 1 October 2001 to 31 December 2001 at an average Brent oil price of US$24.08. · A gas price hedge covering approximately 0.42 bcf of gas for the period 1 October 2001 to 31 December 2001 at a price of 22.9 pence per therm ($7.50 per mcf). 5. PORTFOLIO RATIONALISATION 5.1 Sale of Peripheral Interest in Claymore Oil Field, UK North Sea (ROC: 0.46% carried) Croft Exploration Limited ("Croft"), a company owned 50% by ROC's wholly owned subsidiary Roc Oil (Europe) Limited and 50% by Bow Valley Petroleum (UK) Limited, has reached agreement with a company in the Talisman Group to sell for £2.76 million (A$8.1 million) its 0.921% (0.465% net ROC) interest in the producing Claymore Field, UK North Sea which is currently producing about 130 BPOD net to ROC. The sale has an effective date of 1 January 2001 and is subject to the pre-emption rights of co-venturers and the approval of the UK Secretary of State for Industry. "ROC's
net 0.46% of the Claymore Field is a classic peripheral asset representing
less than 2% of ROC's company-wide production from an operation over which
we have no influence. The transaction will generate a net after tax profit
for ROC slightly in excess of A$1.0 million and, importantly, it will
also allow ROC and Bow Valley to restructure their respective shareholdings
in Croft to better serve the interest of both parties."
Dr
John Doran |
| ACTIVITY UPDATE (02-10-01) |
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SUMMARY · Saltfleetby-6 development well starts drilling · North Sea development drilling and extended well testing ("EWT") continue 1. DEVELOPMENT DRILLING 1.1 Saltfleetby Gas Field, Onshore UK (ROC: 100%) The Saltfleetby-6 well, designed to confirm and access gas reserves in a prognosed southerly extension to the main Saltfleetby Gas Field, spudded at 0500 hrs 1 October 2001 (UK time) and at 1200 hrs 2 October 2001 (UK time) had set surface casing at 80 m MDBRT. The well has a relatively high level of associated reservoir and operational risk because it will test the southern area of the Saltfleetby Gas Field which has never been drilled previously and because it will require a relatively long hole deviation to reach its target. The drilling programme involves drilling a punch-through hole to verify reservoir quality and precise reservoir sand depth before plugging back to drill the planned horizontal production hole to a Total Depth of more than 3,400 metres MD (TVD 2,300 metres, step-out 2,100 metres). Expected well duration is up to 90 days. 1.2 Kyle Oil Field, UK North Sea (ROC: 12.5%) At 0600 hrs on 2 October 2001 (UK time), the Kyle development well, 29/2c-14a, had reached Total Depth of 3,945 m MDBRT (2,237 m TVDBRT) and was carrying out operations to complete the well as a producer from Palaeocene sands. The well, the third production well in the Kyle Field, is the first designed to produce from the Palaeocene sands. 2. DEVELOPMENT TESTING 2.1 Chestnut Oil Field EWT, UK North Sea (ROC: 14.875% carried) At
0600 hrs on 2 October 2001, (UK time) the EWT on well 22/2a-11x was continuing
as planned. Oil production since the EWT started on 26 July 2001 is some
600,000 barrels, approximately half of the 1.25 million barrels allowed
under the testing consent. Dr
John Doran |