11th May 2006 07:58
Dragon Oil PLC11 May 2006 PRESS RELEASE DRAGON OIL plc ("Dragon" or the "Company") SIGNING OF CONTRACT FOR JACK-UP DRILLING RIG Dragon announces that it has signed a contract with Lukoil Shelf Limited("Lukoil") for provision of the Astra jack-up drilling rig ("Astra") for use inthe Cheleken Contract Area offshore Turkmenistan. The Astra is expected to commence drilling operations for Dragon in the ChelekenContract Area from early September 2006 and the initial contract duration willbe six months. Dragon plans for the Astra to drill one development well in the LAM field andone exploration well (which may have an optional sidetrack) in a near-fieldprospect known as LAM West. This near-field prospect of LAM West has beenidentified from data acquired and processed from the recent Marine 3D SeismicSurvey carried out over the entire Cheleken Contract Area. Engineering works are in progress to support the planned well activities for theadditional Astra rig. These engineering works include the installation ofadditional drilling slots on two existing platforms and the future installationof topside facilities and sub-sea pipelines. Hussain M. Sultan, Chairman of Dragon commented: "I am very pleased that we have secured the Astra from Lukoil Shelf Limited. Ourfield development plan, utilising the services of a second drilling rig, willenable Dragon to fully explore, appraise and develop the Cheleken Contract Area.We view the signing of the contract for the Astra, albeit for six months, as animportant milestone in our continued growth. The identification of the near-field prospect of LAM West from the results ofthe Marine 3D Seismic Survey shows us just how important the Marine 3D SeismicSurvey was to our planned filed development. " Ends Citigate Dewe Rogerson (+44 20 7638 9571) Analyst enquiries: Nina Soon Media enquiries: Martin Jackson / George Cazenove Dated 11th May 2006 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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