25th Aug 2005 07:00
Soco International PLC25 August 2005 SOCO International plc ("SOCO" or "the Company") Participation in New License Area Offshore Republic of Congo SOCO is an international oil and gas exploration and production company,headquartered in London traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent ofthe FTSE 250 Index. The Company has continuing interests in Vietnam, Yemen,Libya, Thailand and the Republic of Congo with ongoing production operations inYemen. The Company announces that its subsidiary, SOCO Exploration and Production Congo("SOCO EPC"), has signed a production sharing contract with Societe Nationaledes Petroles du Congo ("SNPC") wherein it has acquired an interest in the MarineXI block, offshore the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville). SNPC was confirmed aslicensee of Marine XI by an 18 July 2005 Presidential decree. SOCO EPC will be the operator with a 75% working interest in the block. Theexploration and production branch of SNPC (15%) and AFRICA OIL & GAS CORPORATION(10%) hold the remaining interests. The block, located in the Lower Congo Basin,is in shallow water adjacent to the coast with water depths ranging up to 110metres and covers approximately 1, 400 square kilometres. There has beenprevious exploration activity on the block resulting in four small oildiscoveries, the largest of which has initial recoverable reserves estimated tobe in the 20 million barrel range. The previous discoveries are in the shallower horizons of the sedimentarysection in Marine XI. The deeper section, productive onshore and on trend tothe south in Cabinda, has not been adequately evaluated as it could not beaccurately mapped using older seismic data. By employing the modern seismictechniques that the Company successfully applied in Vietnam to map the Basementreservoir, SOCO EPC expects to exploit the potential of the deeper section. Asexploration in West Africa moves into ever deeper waters, the application of newtechnology provides access to significant reserve potential in underexploredshallow water areas Ed Story, President and Chief Executive of SOCO, commented: "We are extremely pleased to be participating with SNPC in this very prospectiveblock. In our view, Marine XI offers the same potential for exponentialexploration reserve growth that we are currently demonstrating in Vietnam andYemen. We are pleased to have Marine XI as one of the cornerstones of what weexpect to become an important new core area for SOCO." 25 August 2005 ENQUIRIES: SOCO International plcRoger Cagle Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Financial Tel: 020 7747 2000 Officer Pelham Public RelationsJames Henderson Tel: 020 7743 6673Charles Vivian Tel: 020 7743 6672 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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