22nd Jun 2005 11:35
Premier Oil PLC22 June 2005 PREMIER OIL PLC ("Premier") Mauritania Drilling Update Premier reports that the first three exploration locations for its 2005exploration drilling sequence offshore Mauritania have been selected. Two of the wells, Sotto and Colin, will target relatively high risk butpotentially high reward prospects in PSC Area A. The third well, Espadon, istargeting a medium risk, moderate reward prospect close to the Tiof Discovery inPSC Area B. It is planned to commence drilling these wells in late July 2005using the Stena Tay drill rig. A further two wells in PSC A or B are likely before the end of the year.Subsequent announcements will be made concerning these wells. The West Navigator drillship continues working on Chinguetti development wells.The Chinguetti field, 25km to the south of the Tiof field, was given developmentapproval in May 2004 and is on schedule for first production in early 2006 atapproximately 75,000 bopd, 6,000 bopd net to Premier. 22 June 2005 ENQUIRIES: Premier Oil plc Tel: 020 7730 1111Tony DurrantMark Akers College Hill Tel: 020 7457 2020Jim JosephNick Elwes Background For Editors: Premier Oil plc is a leading independent oil and gas company with producinginterests in the UK, Indonesia and Pakistan. Exploration and appraisal isongoing in the UK, South and South East Asia and Africa. Premier's strategy is to add significant value per share through exploration andappraisal success, astute commercial deals and asset management. The company'soperating business and strong finances put the company in the position tooperate successfully in all reasonable external environments. A drilling programme of up to 16 wells is in place for 2005. Both wellscompleted so far this year have been successful; the first, a flow test on anappraisal well on the Tiof field in Mauritania and the second was a discoveryand flow test from the Al Amir-1 exploration well in Egypt. An appraisal of theAl Amir discovery is planned for later this year. In India, the Lakkhi-1 wellcommenced in April 2005 and operations continue. Further wells are planned to bedrilled later in 2005 in Mauritania, Pakistan, Indonesia, Guinea Bissau, Gabonand Vietnam. The current partners and interests in PSC A and PSC B in Mauritania are: Company PSC A PSC B Chinguetti Exploitation Perimeter1 % % %Woodside 53.846 53.846 47.384BG Group 13.084 11.630 10.234Hardman Resources 24.300 21.600 19.008Fusion Mauritania A3 4.615 - -Premier - 9.231 8.123ROC Oil 4.155 3.693 3.250Groupe Projet Chinguetti2 - - 12.000 1 The Chinguetti Exploitation Perimeter was granted in May 2004 under the termsof the Production Sharing Contract for Area B (PSC B) and contains theChinguetti oil development. The Government of Mauritania exercised its right toparticipate in this area effective from 9 November 2004 and retains the right toparticipate in new developments outside this area. 2 Group Projet Chinguetti is an entity set up to represent the interests of theMauritanian Government in the Chinguetti oil development. 3 Premier will take up 100% ownership of Fusion Mauritania A (currently owned bySterling Energy and Premier) on completion of the transaction announced on 28May 2003. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
PMO.L