JULY 2005 - STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASES
ACTIVITIES FOR THE QUARTER ENDED 30 JUNE 2005: (29-07-2005)



In order to view ROC's REPORT TO REPORT TO SHAREHOLDERS - Activities for the Quarter Ended 30 June 2005, click here



Bruce Clement
Chief Operating Officer
E-mail:
bclement@rocoil.com.au

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ACTIVITY UPDATE: CLIFF HEAD OIL FIELD DEVELOPMENT PROJECT: (21-07-2005)




KEY POINTS

The Cliff Head Oil Field Development Project in the offshore Perth Basin, Western Australia, remains within budget and on schedule for first oil production during first quarter 2006.

Four months after project sanction 75% of the A$227 million budget committed and about 40% of the engineering procurement, construction and installation part of the project completed.




1. PROJECT

ROC’s wholly-owned subsidiary Roc Oil (WA) Pty Ltd, Operator of the Cliff Head Oil Field Development Project is pleased to provide the following update with regard to the project’s progress.

The project remains on schedule for first oil production during the first quarter 2006.

Approximately 75% of the A$227 million budget has been committed and the engineering procurement, construction and installation (ie non-drilling) part of the project is about 40% complete.

There are no outstanding material steel purchases to be made. All primary and secondary steel has been delivered to the jacket and deck fabrication site in Malaysia and all line pipe has been bought and coated.

The Field Development Plan and an application for a Production Licence have been submitted to the relevant Government authorities in Western Australia and Canberra. Timely receipt of regulatory approvals continues to be an important element of the project’s schedule and, in this regard, ROC continues to work closely with the relevant Government authorities.

At the onshore Arrowsmith Plant, 18km south of Dongara, the two onshore pipelines have been fully welded and trenching and laying is about to commence. Horizontal directional drilling of the beach crossings for the pipelines is in progress.

The ENSCO 67 jack-up rig is still scheduled to arrive on site in late October 2005, to install the wellhead platform and deck prior to commencing the drilling of the development wells.

Jacket and deck fabrication has progressed well and remains on schedule for load out during the first half of October 2005.

The accommodation barge and the pipeline lay barge, both presently in Indonesia, have been engaged and are due on site in September 2005.

Other key elements of the Cliff Head project include the manufacture of down hole pumps in the United States, power generators in Austria and pressure vessels and chemical injection equipment in Australia, all of which are also on schedule.

ROC continues to liaise very closely with the local community in and around Dongara and has commenced recruitment of local staff for the operational and maintenance aspects of the production phase of the project. Cliff Head production will be managed by Mr Barry Ashwin who will be based in Perth. Mr Ashwin has more than 20 years of relevant industry experience mainly in senior production and operating positions with BHP Billiton. Most recently, Mr Ashwin was Production Manager for Arc Energy’s operations in the north Perth Basin.

 

2. CEO’S COMMENTS

Commenting on the current status of the project, ROC’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr John Doran stated that:

“Until first oil production is achieved, every offshore field development project is best viewed on a one-day-at-a-time basis and the Cliff Head Development Project is no exception. Progress to date has been good, but with less than nine months to go before targeted production start-up we shouldn’t gloss over the significant amount of work that still remains to be done. None of the project’s 300 workforce, located in various parts of the world, is under any illusion about the importance of this project to the participants – particularly the three small to medium sized Australian companies which collectively own 71% of the project. Everybody will need to stay fully focussed if both the schedule and budget are to be achieved”.

 

3. JOINT VENTURE

The Cliff Head Joint Venture comprises Equity

WA-325-P........................... . . .. . . . .....Equity.............

Roc Oil (WA) Pty Ltd (Operator) . . . . . . . . .37.5%
AWE Oil (Western Australia) Pty Ltd . . . . . . 27.5%
Wandoo Petroleum Pty Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.0%
Voyager (PB) Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6.0%
CIECO Exploration and Production. . . . . . . .55.0%
(Australia) Pty Ltd




Michelle Manook
General Manager – Corporate Affairs
E-mail:
mmanook@rocoil.com.au

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SPECULATION REGARDING TIOF, MAURITANIA: (15-07-2005)




ROC advises that the following release was made earlier today by Woodside Petroleum Limited:


"Woodside Petroleum Ltd advises, in response to recent media reports regarding the Tiof oil field, offshore Mauritania, that it is premature and inappropriate to speculate on the timing of any declaration of commerciality or any investment decision for the field.

Decisions on those matters will not be made until after the evaluation of all necessary appraisal work has been completed."



Bruce Clement
Chief Operating Officer
E-mail:
bclement@rocoil.com.au

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UK AND NORWEGIAN GOVERNMENTS APPROVE DEVELOPMENT OF BLANE AND ENOCH FIELDS IN THE NORTH SEA: (05-07-2005)



KEY POINT

 

Following receipt of development approvals from the governments of the UK and Norway, the Blane (ROC: 12.50%) and Enoch
(ROC: 12.00%) fields are expected to be developed for gross costs in the order of A$391 million and A$178 million respectively. Production from both fields is scheduled to start in late 2006 at gross rates of 14,000 BOPD for Blane and 12,000 BOPD for Enoch.

 

ROC is pleased to advise that its wholly owned subsidiary Roc Oil (GB) Ltd and its joint venturers have received approval from both the UK and Norwegian Governments for the development of the Blane Oil Field and Enoch Oil and Gas Field which straddle the UK Norway international boundary. (See Attachment 1).

ROC’s unitised interests in the Blane and Enoch developments are 12.50% and 12.00% respectively.



The following development summary has been derived from a recent public release by the operator of both fields, Paladin Expro Ltd (“Paladin”)


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .
BLANE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . ENOCH

Development Costs. . .. . .
£165 million/A$391 million. . . .. . . . . . . . . .£75 million/A$178 million

Initial Production rate. .. . 14,000 BPD . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,000 BPD

First Oil
. . . . . . . . . .. . . . .Late 2006 . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Late 2006

Development Facilities
.. .Subsea wells tied back to Ula platform . . . .Subsea well tied back to Brae platform

Operator
.. . . . . . . . . . . . .Paladin .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .Paladin

Joint Venturers
. . . . . . ....Roc Oil (GB) Ltd (12.50%) . . . . . . . . .....Roc Oil (GB) Ltd (12.00%)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . ....Paladin (25.00%) . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .....Paladin (24.00%)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . ....MOC Exporation (UK) Ltd (14.00%) . . . . ....Dyas UK Ltd (14.00%)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . ....Eni UK Ltd (13.90%).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .....Bow Valley Petroleum (12.00%)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . ....Bow Valley Petroleum (12.50%) . . . . . . .....Statoil ASA (11.78%)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . ....Paladin Resources Norge AS (11.70%) . ..... Dana Petroleum (E & P) Ltd (8.80%)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . ....Talisman Energy Norge AS (6.30%). . . . .....Petro-Canada UK Ltd (8.00%)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . ....Eni ULX Ltd (4.10%).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... Total E & P Norge AS (4.36%)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... .DNO AS (2.00%)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... .DONG Norge AS (1.86%)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... .Lundin North Sea Ltd(1.20%)

 

Commenting on the developments, ROC’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr John Doran, stated that:

"The Blane and Enoch fields are two of the nine fields which ROC currently has at various stages of appraisal, pre-development and development. This is what ROC refers to as its "conveyor belt of projects". As a result of this latest announcement, that conveyor belt has just moved Blane and Enoch forward into the "Development" category where they join the Chinguetti and Cliff Head oil fields.

With first production from Blane and Enoch scheduled for late 2006, six to nine months after first production from Chinguetti and Cliff Head, ROC's 2006 production will receive a timely boost in the latter part of next year. This timing allows ROC to fund its share of the cost of developing the Blane and Enoch fields from internal sources without seeking fresh capital from shareholders, although the Company will also consider financing these developments via a corporate or project loan facility.

In a separate, but related announcement, the Norwegian Government ascribed proved and probable (2P) reserves of 32 MMBOE and 15 MMBOE respectively to Blane and Enoch. This equates to a total net ROC 2P reserves for both fields of 5.8 MMBOE; slightly more than ROC's net share of current 2P estimates for the Cliff Head Oil Field.”


Bruce Clement
Chief Operating Officer
E-mail:
bclement@rocoil.com.au

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