Ukraine Operations
Regal Petroleum PLC
11 May 2004
For Immediate Release Tuesday 11th May 2004
Regal Petroleum plc ('Regal')
Ukraine Operations
The Directors of Regal are pleased to announce, that following the successful
connection of the recently completed MEX102 well, production of gas and
condensate has increased from 244,000m3 to in excess of 830,000m3 of gas
equivalent per day.
In addition, the Directors are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Luis F
Quintero as the Managing Director of Ukraine Operations, effective as of 18
April 2004.
The drilling of production well MEX102 was completed in mid March 2004 and
connected to the gas plant on 26 April 2004, following the installation of
infrastructure and testing. The flow from MEX102 has greatly exceeded
expectations having tested to 143,000m3/day gas and 232m3/day condensate on 9mm
choke. MEX102 was originally expected to have a daily production of circa
175,000m3 gas and 25m3 of condensate per day.
Regal now has four wells connected to the new gas plant: MEX3 and GOL1 (both
work-over wells), together with GOL2 (a former exploration well completed by
Regal as a production well) and MEX102 (a new well drilled by Regal). A further
work-over well SV10 has been completed and awaits connection to the plant.
Daily production from the field has increased substantially from an average of
244,000m3 gas equivalent to an average of 830,000m3 gas equivalent.
The separation and heating system of the treatment plant is currently working to
maximum capacity due to the unexpectedly high condensate flow from MEX102.
Modifications to the separation and heating systems and storage facilities in
order to increase the capacity of the plant have commenced so as to enable full
processing for production from all wells including SV10. Management are
confident that these modifications will be completed in approximately two months
and will result in a substantial increase in production.
The new Managing Director of Ukraine Operations, Dr Quintero, previously worked
for Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and Schlumberger in more than 18 countries
since 1984, covering a wide spectrum of the oil and gas industry. Dr Quintero
started his career in the fields of India as a wireline engineer, and went on to
positions in petrophysics, reservoir engineering, production engineering, field
development planning, project administration, financial analysis, asset
evaluation, business development and production enhancement. Dr Quintero worked
in the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East, and is very
familiar with the technology and operating practices in these areas. He was
Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts (SPWLA) regional director for
Europe, and has been a member of its technology committee for the past five
years. He is also the former production enhancement director for Pertamina. Dr
Quintero obtained a bachelor's degree from Universidad Simon Bolivar in
Venezuela, and a MSc and Phd in Petroleum Engineering from Louisiana State
University, in the USA.
Commenting of the Ukraine, Frank Timis, Chairman of Regal, said:
'Production in the Ukraine has reached a volume which is sufficient for
commencing exports. With our own gas plant approaching its full capacity and the
modifications to the gas plant underway, to enable substantially higher
production from our five wells, together with access to international markets
through our export pipeline, Regal looks forward to generating strong cashflow
from its Ukraine operations.
We are also delighted to welcome Dr Quintero to Regal's operational management
team whose expertise and credentials with large companies in the former Soviet
Union and Eastern Europe will contribute greatly to further progress in the
Ukraine.'
For further information, please contact:
Regal Tel: 020 7647 6622
Frank Timis, Executive Chairman
Buchanan Communications Tel: 020 7466 5000
Bobby Morse / Catherine Miles
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange