31 August 2010
Kurdistan - Sangaw North PSC
Sterling Energy Plc ("Sterling" or "Company"), the AIM listed independent oil & gas, exploration & production, company with interests in the Middle East and Africa, provides the following update on its activities:
Sangaw North Exploration Well
Further to the announcement dated 6 August 2010, the repairs to the Sakson drilling rig have now been completed and the rig has resumed operations. Sterling's plan is to continue testing the prospectivity of the Sangaw North #1 exploration well previously identified from the wire-line log data and drilling shows over the open-hole interval of 1,450m to 2,395m.
It is estimated that the testing will take approximately 10 days to complete, after which the plan is to drill ahead through the remaining Cretaceous section and then to the deeper potential reservoirs in the Jurassic. Due to the delays incurred whilst the rig was undergoing repairs, the well is now expected to reach its planned depth of 3,660m during the 4th quarter of 2010.
Alastair Beardsall, Sterling's Chairman, commented
"We are pleased that the repairs to the drilling rig are now complete and we look forward to continuing the evaluation of the Sangaw North #1 exploration well."
Enquiries
Sterling Energy Plc (+44 20 7405 4133)
Alastair Beardsall, Executive Chairman
Andrew Grosse, Exploration & Technical Director
Evolution Securities (+44 20 7071 4300)
Rob Collins & Chris Sim
Andrew Grosse, B.Sc. (Hons) Geology & Geophysics (1980), Exploration & Technical Director of Sterling Energy Plc, who has been involved in the oil industry for over 29 years, is the qualified person that has reviewed the technical information contained in this press release.