| SEPTEMBER 2004 - RELEASES |
| BLOCK 22/12, BEIBU GULF, OFFSHORE CHINA: EXTENSION OF PETROLEUM CONTRACT (29-09-2004) |
On 28 September 2004 ROC, on behalf of the Block 22/12 Joint Venture*, advised China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) of the Joint Venture’s intention to continue into the third phase of the exploration period of the Petroleum Contract.
Roc Oil (China) Company ......... 40% and Operator ** a subsidiary of First Australian Resources
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| MAURITANIA OFFSHORE DRILLING UPDATE (28-09-2004) |
ROC advises that the following release was made this afternoon by Woodside Petroleum Limited:
Tiof-4
The Tiof-3 appraisal well was spudded by the drill ship, “West Navigator”, on 26 September 2004 in 1198 metres of water. The 17-1/2 inch hole was drilled to a depth of 2150 metres. At midnight 27 September the rig was preparing to run casing. The well has a PTD of approximately 2900 metres. TThe drill rig “Stena Tay” continues drilling operations on Chinguetti Development wells. 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 (21-09-2004) |
ROC reports the following activity offshore Mauritania since the last report issued on 14 September 2004. PSC-C2 - Dorade-1 Exploration Well PSC-B - Capitaine-1 Exploration Well, Tevét-1 Exploration Well and arrival of “Stena Tay” The Capitaine-1 exploration well was spudded on 16 September 2004 in 1681 metres of water. The top hole section was drilled and 13 3/8 inch casing was run to 2,585 metres depth where the casing became stuck. The casing was cemented at this depth but the operational problems have resulted in the top hole being abandoned and the drilling rig, “West Navigator”, moved off location on September 19. The well will be re-drilled in the near future. Tevét-1 The drill rig “West Navigator” commenced drilling the top hole section of the Tevét-1 exploration well in 489 metres of water on 20 September. At 0000hrs UTC on 21 September, the well was drilling ahead in 17-1/2 inch hole at a depth of 633 metres. The second drill rig to be used in the current Mauritania offshore drilling campaign, the “Stena Tay”, arrived offshore Mauritania on 14 September 2004 and spudded the Chinguetti-8 development well on 15 September. ROC does not plan to issue further announcements regarding drilling operations on Chinguetti production wells, but will make additional announcements if required to comply with its continuous disclosure obligations under the ASX Listing Rules.
Company............................... . . . . . . .PSC-A..........PSC-B.......PSC-C2
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| DRILLING ACTIVITY UPDATE – PSC AREA C2, OFFSHORE MAURITANIA DORADE-1 EXPLORATION WELLS (14-09-2004) |
ROC reports that the Dorade-1 exploration well, in Block 2 offshore Mauritania, commenced drilling on 12 September 2004. ROC via its wholly owned subsidiary, Roc Oil (Mauritania) Company, has a 3.2% participating interest in the area.
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| EXERCISE OF EMPLOYEE OPTIONS (14-09-2004) |
KEY POINT ROC advises that consistent with London Stock Exchange disclosure requirements, the Company has made the following announcement in the United Kingdom:
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| DRILLING ACTIVITY UPDATE: OFFSHORE RIG ARRIVAL IN MAURITANIA SIGNALS START OF DRILLING CAMPAIGN (10-09-2004) |
OFFSHORE RIG ARRIVAL IN MAURITANIA SIGNALS START OF DRILLING CAMPAIGN Roc Oil Company Limited advises that the following ASX Release was made this morning by Woodside Petroleum Limited:
Company................................PSC A..........PSCB.........PSC C2
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| APPENDIX 3B - NEW ISSUE ANNOUNCEMENTS: (08-09-2004) |
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| ROC COMMENCES TRADING IN LONDON (07-09-2004) |
KEY POINT • ROC, an Australian Stock Exchange ("ASX") 200 company, announces that its ordinary shares have been admitted to trading on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange ("AIM") today under the symbol 'ROC'. Total volume of ROC shares traded on 6 September, the first day of London trading, was 128,829 and the closing price was 74.5p, equivalent to A$1.915 at the current A$-₤ exchange rate of 0.389. Canaccord Capital (Europe) Limited is acting as nominated adviser and broker ("NOMAD") to the Company.
ROC, an independent oil and gas exploration and production company, has A$100 million net cash, no debt, and produces approximately 3,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from its 100% owned and operated Saltfleetby Gas Field in Lincolnshire, which is Britain's largest onshore gas field. The Sydney-based company has a strong operating emphasis and an international focus, with exploration assets in West Africa, China and Australasia and producing and exploration assets in the UK. Each area of activity is associated with a proven petroleum province, two of which were discovered by ROC and its co-venturers. The company has a global acreage holding of approximating 26 million acres/105,000 sq km gross or 4.3 million acres/17,400 sq km net. The Company has discovered commercial and / or potentially commercial oil with each of its initial wells offshore Mauritania, Australia and China. During June 2004, ROC operated its first deep water well located in 1,500m of water offshore Equatorial Guinea, West Africa. In total, ROC has drilled, or participated in the drilling of, 37 wells during the last five years with an overall success rate of 62% and an exploration success rate of 33%, based on the 18 exploration wells drilled during this period. ROC's list of current projects includes one new field development (offshore Mauritania) and three potential new field developments (offshore Mauritania, offshore Western Australia and, possibly, offshore China) as well as a possible field development in the UK North Sea. Over the next six months ROC expects to participate in multi-well exploration, appraisal and development drilling programmes in, around, and on trend from its recent discoveries offshore Mauritania and Western Australia, as well as exploration drilling onshore UK. In total, more than 20 wells are expected to be drilled during this period. ROC is not seeking to raise any fresh capital as part of its AIM listing because, in May 2004, the company completed a A$92 million fully underwritten, Rights Issue in Australia. The proceeds of that issue will be used to partially fund ROC's development and potential development projects, in Mauritania, offshore Western Australia and, possibly, China, as well as exploration programmes in West Africa, including Mauritania and Angola. A corporate debt facility is expected to fund the balance of the development expenditures.
"Listing ROC shares on AIM is the next logical step in the Company's growth strategy. Although ROC’s trading record would qualify it to list on the Main Board of the London Stock Exchange, ROC chose to list on AIM because the recently introduced “fast track” concept makes it an administratively simple, cost efficient and relatively quick process. ROC's conveyor belt of projects runs from new ventures and exploration to mature production, in areas which appear to be of interest to UK investors, particularly West Africa where ROC has established a meaningful presence and a successful track record during the last five years."
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| EXTRACTS FROM ROC’S PRESENTATION TO INVESTORS IN SYDNEY ON 6 SEPTEMBER 2004 (06-09-2004) |
Attached are 5 illustrations that may be regarded as representing new and/or material information relating to ROC and its activities. These illustrations are extracted from a more fulsome presentation on the Company presented by its Chief Executive Officer, Dr John Doran, to investors in Sydney on 6 September 2004. All other material used in the presentation is already in the public domain and/or is considered by ROC not to be material to shareholders and potential investors. In order to view the illustrations, click here
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| EXTRACTS FROM ROC’S PRESENTATION TO THE "GOOD OIL CONFERENCE" IN PERTH ON 2 SEPTEMBER 2004 (02-09-2004) |
Attached are 22 illustrations that may be regarded as representing new and/or material information relating to ROC and its activities. These illustrations are extracted from a more fulsome presentation on the Company presented by its Chief Executive Officer, Dr John Doran, to the Good Oil Conference in Perth on 2 September 2004 . All other material used in the presentation is already in the public domain and/or is considered by ROC not to be material to shareholders and potential investors. To view the Attachment, click here
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| CLIFF HEAD JOINT VENTURE ANNOUNCES ITS INTENTION TO BRING FORWARD PART OF ITS DEVELOPMENT DRILLING PROGRAMME (01-09-2004) |
CLIFF HEAD JOINT VENTURE ANNOUNCES ITS INTENTION TO BRING FORWARD PART OF ITS DEVELOPMENT DRILLING PROGRAMME At a Joint Venture meeting held in Perth on 31 August 2004, the Cliff Head Joint Venture agreed, subject to rig availability, to bring forward some of the elements of the development drilling programme that had previously been planned for late 2005. Specifically, the Joint Venture agreed to drill Cliff Head-5 at a location in the southeastern part of the field as a vertical “pathfinder” appraisal well that will assist in the planning of a horizontal development well that is scheduled to be drilled into that part of the field from the unmanned production platform. This well is designed to move reserve from the probable to the proven category but because it is a pilot well it will not be completed for production regardless of results. The second well, Cliff Head-6, will be drilled as a development well in the main horst and is expected to be suspended as a future oil producer and completed for production in late 2005. It is anticipated that both wells will be drilled during January 2005. The rescheduling of part of the Cliff Head development drilling programme is being considered because the WA-325-P Joint Venture is scheduled to bring a jack-up rig into the offshore Perth Basin in late 2004 thereby affording the Cliff Head Joint Venture a possible opportunity to accelerate part of its development drilling programme. Bringing these wells forward will not impact on anticipated first oil production, which is still scheduled as a stretch target for end 2005. However, as a result of the rescheduled drilling, it is now expected that Final Investment Decision (“FID”) will formally be taken at end January 2005 as opposed to end December 2004. Commenting on the rescheduled drilling, Dr John Doran ROC’s Chief Executive Officer stated that: “It’s not often in this business that a Joint Venture can advise the market of its intention to bring some elements of its development drilling programme forward by the best part of a year, but, in this case, the Joint Venture is opportunistically responding to the possibility that a suitable rig may be available.”
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