Dawn Well Operational Update

For immediate release 4 January 2011

Dawn Well Operational Update

Desire Petroleum plc (AIM:DES) the company wholly focussed on the North Falkland Basin, advises that the 25/5-1 well on the Dawn/Jacinta prospect has reached a total depth of 1,697 metres in pre-rift sediments.

Based on preliminary drilling and wireline logging data there are no significant hydrocarbons in the Dawn prospect and the well will be plugged and abandoned with gas shows around 1,434 metres. The lithology in the section from 1,313 to 1,697 metres is predominantly claystone and good quality sandstone with 71metres of net reservoir based on initial log analysis. 

Wireline logging and abandonment operations will now be completed and the rig will then go to Rockhopper Exploration to drill 1 or 2 wells, subject to regulatory approval, before returning to Desire to drill a well at a location still to be finalised and subject to regulatory approval.

The Dawn well was testing a significant fault block at the southern margin of the main basin, some 28 km from previous well control, with primary reservoir targets in the syn-rift and pre-rift. These targets are stratigraphically older than the reservoirs in the East Flank play. The implication of the well results for remaining prospectivity in this part of the basin will be assessed once the new data has been integrated and all post-well studies are completed.

Subsurface support is provided to Desire Petroleum by Senergy (GB) Ltd and the results reported today are based on the work of the Senergy operations team.

This statement has been approved by Dr Ian Duncan of Desire Petroleum plc, who is a Fellow of the Geological Society, Chartered Geologist, and a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists with over 35 years experience in petroleum exploration and management.

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