26th Apr 2006 08:07
Premier Oil PLC26 April 2006 PREMIER OIL PLC ("Premier" or "the Company") Vietnam update Premier Oil and Santos are pleased to announce that they have reached agreementregarding the upcoming programme to drill the Dua and Blackbird prospects inBlock 12E, offshore Vietnam. The agreement includes a funding arrangement for Premier Oil's 75% share of thecosts of the upcoming two well drilling programme. Upon completion of thefunding obligation and other principal terms of the agreement Premier Oil andSantos will each hold a 37.5% interest in the Block 12E and Block 12W ProductionSharing Contracts, offshore Vietnam. The balance of 25% interest is held byDelek Energy. Premier Oil became operator of Blocks 12E and 12W in September 2004 and hassince undertaken a comprehensive programme of 2D and 3D seismic acquisition,processing and interpretation which has identified the Dua and Blackbirdprospects as having high impact potential. The Dua-4X well will explore thepotential of a structure that flowed 1,500 barrels of oil per day from thecrestal Dua-1X well in 1974. The 12E-CS-1X "Blackbird" well will explore a largetilted fault block updip of well 12E-LK-1X (2001) which encountered very goodoil shows. The wells will be drilled using the Diamond Offshore semi-submersible drillingunit "Ocean General", with spud date anticipated early in May 2006. Premier's Chief Executive, Simon Lockett, said: "Premier is pleased to have agreed a farm-down of its interests in Vietnamwhilst continuing to expose Premier shareholders to material upside from thesetwo high impact wells. Premier is on track to deliver up to 16 explorationwells within a target exploration spend of $50 million for 2006" 26 April 2006 ENQUIRIES Premier Oil plc Tel: 020 7730 1111Tony DurrantNeil Hawkings Pelham PRJames Henderson Tel: 020 7743 6673Gavin Davis Tel: 020 7743 6677 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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