5th Mar 2007 15:56
Dragon Oil PLC05 March 2007 DRILLING UPDATE Highlights • Dragon Oil announces that it has signed a five-year extension to therig contract for the Iran Khazar jack-up drilling rig, with contract rates fixedfor the first two years; • LAM 13/118 tested at 1,525 bopd; and • The upper zone of LAM 21/117 tested at 950 bopd, with operationsongoing to bring the lower zone on production. Hussain M. Sultan, Chairman and CEO of Dragon commented: "I am very pleased that we have been successful in signing an extension to thecontract for the Iran Khazar drilling rig. The Iran Khazar rig has been thefoundation for our continuous drilling programme over the last 2 years andsecuring its services for the coming years is another cornerstone to ensure ourprogramme accelerates further and to meet our stated goal of fully developingand producing the fields in the Cheleken Contract Area. Following on from the recent announcement that drilling of wells 13/118 and 21/117 had been completed, I am pleased to announce the results from well 13/118and the upper zones from well 21/117. The 13/118 results are encouraging,particularly since the well is shallow, and further production optimisation fromthis well is expected. The full results from well 21/117 are not yet available.However, I am confident that technical difficulties encountered with the longstring in the dual completion will be resolved shortly and the well will produceas per our expectations." Citigate Dewe Rogerson (+44 20 7638 9571)Media enquiries: Martin Jackson / George CazenoveAnalyst enquiries: Nina Soon Rig contract update Dragon Oil announces that it has signed an extension to the existing drillingrig contract for the Iran Khazar jack-up drilling rig with North DrillingCompany. The current contract period expires in May 2007 and the extensionperiod will run for an additional duration of five years, with the contractrates being firm for the first two years. The Iran Khazar rig will continue to drill the series of development wells fromthe new LAM A platform, as planned. Drilling update details Dragon Oil announces that perforating and testing of well 13/118, drilled andcompleted by the Astra jack-up drilling rig from the LAM 13 platform, has beencompleted. The well tested at a rate of 1,525 bopd from reservoir zones 3, 4 and5. Dragon Oil also announces that the testing of the upper zones of well 21/117,drilled and completed by the Iran Khazar jack-up drilling rig from the LAM 21platform, has been completed. The upper reservoir zone 4 tested at a rate of 950bopd; however, due to a downhole obstruction, the lower zones of well 21/117 arenot yet on production. The required equipment is currently being mobilised toaccess the lower zone and operations will be conducted to perforate and test thelower zones of well 21/117 within the next few weeks. Meanwhile, the Astra rig is drilling Dragon Oil's first appraisal well on theLam West structure, 28/120, from the LAM 28 platform and, to date, has reached adrilling depth of 3,073 metres. The Iran Khazar rig is drilling the first in aseries of development wells, A/119, from the new LAM A platform and, to date,has reached a drilling depth of 3,141 metres. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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