| OCTOBER 2004 - RELEASES |
| ACTIVITIES FOR THE QUARTER ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2004 (29-10-2004) |
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| ROC FORMALLY AGREES TO TRIGGER PRODUCTION SHARING AGREEMENT FOR CABINDA SOUTH BLOCK, ONSHORE ANGOLA (27-10-2004) |
• On 26 October, 2004, ROC formally agreed with Sociedade Nacional de Combustíveis de Angola – Unidade Económica Estatal (“Sonangol”), the national oil company of Angola, to trigger the Production Sharing Agreement (“PSA”) relating to the Cabinda South Block, onshore Angola, with an Effective Date of 1 November 2004. Work is expected to start on the ground during the first half of 2005 – marking the end of a 32 year hiatus of petroleum exploration activity onshore Cabinda. TRIGGERING OF PSA. As a result of triggering of the PSA, ROC, which has an 80% working interest and a 100% contributing interest in the Block, will pay to Sonangol a Signature Bonus of US$6 million. The remaining 20% interest in the Block is owned by Sonangol, which will be carried through the exploration phase. The term of the PSA, including two renewal periods, is six years. The minimum Work Programme for the first four years includes seismic acquisition and three wells. Further details about the Block can be found on ROC’s website and in its ASX Release dated 26 August 2004.
“ROC has been steadily putting its Angolan strategy in place since 1998 when it first tried to acquire and accumulate equity in the Cabinda South Block. Six years later, ROC has an 80% interest and has formally agreed to trigger the PSA. Its been quite a journey. However, all we've really done is travelled to the starting line - now comes the real business of looking for and hopefully finding, significant amounts of oil onshore Cabinda. Consistent with statements made in ROC's Renounceable Rights Issue it is quite possible that ROC may farmout a minority interest in the Cabinda South Block but only on terms which reflect the upside potential of the area.”
Bruce Clement |
| MAURITANIA OFFSHORE DRILLING UPDATE (26-10-2004) |
ROC advises that the following release was made earlier today by Woodside Petroleum Limited:
At midnight on 25 October 2004 the current operation was preparing to drill ahead to the target interval. All reported drilling depths are referenced to the rig rotary table and all times are Universal Time (UTC) (Mauritanian time). The locations of the Chinguetti Oil Field, the Tiof and Banda discoveries and exploration wells to be drilled early in the 2004-05 drilling campaign are shown on the attached map. Wells are expected to be drilled in three production sharing contract areas during the campaign."
Company............................... . . . . . . .PSC-A..........PSC-B.......PSC-C2 |
| MAURITANIA OFFSHORE DRILLING UPDATE (19-10-2004) |
ROC advises that the following release was made earlier today by Woodside Petroleum Limited:
Current operations are plugging and abandoning the well. The "Stena Tay" will subsequently move to the Capitaine-1A location where it will drill the well to total depth. All reported drilling depths are referenced to the rig rotary table and all times are Universal Time (UTC) (Mauritanian time). The locations of the Chinguetti Oil Field, the Tiof and Banda discoveries and exploration wells to be drilled early in the 2004-05 drilling campaign are shown on the attached map. Wells are expected to be drilled in three production sharing contract areas during the campaign."
Company............................... . . . . . . .PSC-A..........PSC-B.......PSC-C2 |
| MAURITANIA OFFSHORE DRILLING UPDATE (18-10-2004) |
PSC-C2, Dorade-1 ROC advises that the Dorade-1 exploration well in PSC-C2, offshore Mauritania is being plugged and abandoned after failing to encounter hydrocarbons. The well was drilled to a total depth of 2,622 m subsea in a water depth of 1,670 m.
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| OCTOBER 2004 - RELEASES |
| MAURITANIA OFFSHORE DRILLING UPDATE (12-10-2004) |
ROC advises that the following release was made earlier today by Woodside Petroleum Limited:
Tevét-1 Exploration well
Dorade-1 All reported drilling depths are referenced to the rig rotary table and all times are Universal Time (UTC) (Mauritanian time). The locations of the Chinguetti Oil Field, the Tiof and Banda discoveries and exploration wells to be drilled early in the 2004-05 drilling campaign are shown on the attached map. Wells are expected to be drilled in three production sharing contract areas during the campaign."
Company............................... . . . . . . .PSC-A..........PSC-B.......PSC-C2
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| MAURITANIA OFFSHORE DRILLING UPDATE (08-10-2004) |
ROC advises that the following release was made this morning by Woodside Petroleum Limited:
Tiof-3 Appraisal well The current operation is preparing to sidetrack, core and test the well as planned.
Tevét-1 Exploration well The well was drilled at a location to intersect the predicted fluid contacts. The top reservoir, gas-oil contact and oil-water contact were encountered at their predicted pre-drill depths. The Tevét-1 discovery is located within tie-back distance to the Chinguetti field which is currently being developed. The current operation was plugging and abandoning the well as planned. The locations of the Chinguetti Oil Field, the Tiof and Banda discoveries and exploration wells to be drilled early in the 2004-05 drilling campaign are shown on the attached map.
Participating Interests in those areas are: Company............................... . . . . . . .PSC-A..........PSC-B.......PSC-C2
John Doran, Chief Executive Officer of ROC commented that: "ROC considers this to be an excellent start to the Mauritanian drilling campaign. However, the Company recognises that it is easy to be encouraged whenever you encounter thick gross hydrocarbon columns. Until the Joint Venture has finalised its evaluation of net oil pay in the Tiof-3 and Tevet-1 wells and acquired more subsurface data from both fields, it would be premature to draw any commercial conclusions."
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| MAURITANIA OFFSHORE DRILLING UPDATE (05-10-2004) |
ROC advises that the following release was made this afternoon by Woodside Petroleum Limited:
Tiof-3 Appraisal well Preliminary assessment of logs acquired while drilling indicate the presence of oil in the target interval. At midnight on 4 October the current operation was preparing to run wireline logs. The results of wireline logging will be reported once that program is completed and evaluated. Following completion of wireline logging it is intended to sidetrack, core and test the well as planned.
Tevét-1 Exploration well Preliminary assessment of logs acquired while drilling indicate the presence of oil and gas bearing zones. At midnight on 4 October the current operation was running wireline logs. The results of wireline logging will be reported once that program is completed and evaluated. After completion of wireline logs, the well will be plugged and abandoned as planned, and the “Stena Tay” will move to drill the bottom hole of the Dorade-1 well, containing the target interval. All reported drilling depths are referenced to the rig rotary table and all times are Universal Time (UTC) (Mauritanian time). The locations of the Chinguetti Oil Field, the Tiof and Banda discoveries and exploration wells to be drilled early in the 2004-05 drilling campaign are shown on the attached map. Wells are expected to be drilled in three production sharing contract areas during the campaign."
Participating Interests in those areas are: Company............................... . . . . . . .PSC-A..........PSC-B.......PSC-C2
John Doran, Chief Executive Officer of ROC commented that: "The information currently available is preliminary and should not cause anybody to jump to any particular conclusions. Logging and evaluation of the wells is continuing and information regarding these results will be announced as soon as it is available, after completion of the work."
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