11th Jan 2005 07:07
Premier Oil PLC11 January 2005 PREMIER OIL PLC ("Premier") Mauritania Drilling Update Tiof-6 Appraisal well The "West Navigator" drilled the Tiof-6 appraisal well to a final total depth of2696 metres where the acquisition of wireline logs commenced. Preliminaryanalysis of logs acquired while drilling and the wireline logs acquired so farindicates the presence of an oil column. At midnight on 10 January wirelinelogging was still in progress. Once logging operations are complete, theforward plan is to suspend the well to allow the rig to work on the Chinguettidevelopment drilling programme before returning to flow test the Tiof-6 well. The Tiof-6 well is the 4th appraisal well following the two discovery wellscompleted in late 2003. The appraisal programme is proceeding on prognosis andthe joint venture is planning to complete the test of the 4th appraisal wellbefore refining development plans. 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 barrels of oil per day (bopd), 6,000 bopd to Premier.Development drilling is currently underway. The Tevet-1 discovery well drilledin October 2004 is located within tie-back distance to the Chinguetti field. The "West Navigator" and "Stena Tay" drilling rigs will remain on locationoffshore Mauritania throughout the greater part of 2005, and will be drillingexploration and appraisal wells in addition to Chinguetti, and possibly Tiof,development wells. 11 January 2005 ENQUIRIES: Premier Oil plc Tel: 020 7730 1111Charles JamiesonMark Akers College Hill Tel: 020 7457 2020Tony FriendNick 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. Eleven exploration and appraisal wells were completed in 2004, six of which havesuccessfully found hydrocarbons in Mauritania (Tevet and Tiof wells), Indonesia(Gajah Baru field) and Guinea Bissau (Sinapa). A drilling programme of up to 18 wells is in place for 2005. Exploration ofPremier's Egyptian acreage began in December 2004 with the Al Amir-1 well. InIndia, the Lakkhi-1 well is planned to commence in February 2005. Further wellsare planned to be drilled later in 2005 in Mauritania, Indonesia, Guinea Bissau,Gabon and 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