Oryx-1 Well Spud

RNS Number : 5985P

Independent Resources PLC

20 July 2010

 



20 July 2010

Independent Resources plc

("IRG" or "the Company")

Oryx-1 Well Spud

Independent Resources plc is pleased to announce that exploration well Oryx-1 was spudded yesterday, 19 July 2010. The Oryx-1 well is situated on the Ksar Hadada Permit (the "Permit") lying onshore Tunisia which covers an area of 5,608 square kilometres. The Company holds an 18.97% Working Interest.

The Oryx-1 well is one of a two-well drilling programme that forms part of the work programme that was agreed when PetroAsian Energy Holdings Limited farmed into the Permit. PetroAsian is committed to finance all of the joint venture's work commitments in the current programme, including the drilling of the two wells, up to US$14.5 million.

The well is being drilled into an Ordovician Bir Ben Tartar Formation oil target and is planned to reach a vertical target depth of a minimum of 1165 metres. It is envisaged that the Oryx-1 well will take approximately 19 days to drill,subject to operational requirements, at a dry hole cost of approximately US$ 4.35 million.

On completion of the Oryx-1 well, the rig will be moved to the site for the Sidi Toui-4 well to drill the second well in the current programme. Further announcements will be made once each drilling programme is completed.

Independent assessments of gross prospective contingent resources and chances of success for the 2010 drilling targets on the Permit have been carried out by Blackwatch Petroleum Services Ltd on behalf of PetroAsian Energy Holdings Ltd (52.96% Working Interest), and are reported as follows;

Ksar Hadada Licence Gross Prospective Recoverable Resource Estimates (MMbbls), pre 2010 Drilling Programme

Prospect	Oil			Chance of success
	Low (P90)	Medium (Pmean)	High (P10)
Sidi Toui	24	161	409	40%
Oryx	6	47	105	34%

This announcement has been reviewed by Roberto Bencini, Technical Director of Independent Resources, for the purposes of the current Guidance Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies issued by the London Stock Exchange in June 2009. Mr. Bencini is a chartered petroleum geologist. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, the Geological Society of London and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

For further information contact:
Grayson Nash	Independent Resources plc	[phone]
Allan Piper	Tavistock Communications	07736 064 982
Simon Hudson		020 7920 3150
Jonathan Wright	Seymour Pierce Limited	020 7107 8000
Stewart Dickson

Background details follow:

These operations follow the renewal of the permit for three years from 20 April 2008 and the previously-announced transaction involving PetroAsian. This transaction, which resulted in the current joint venture, removed IRG's commitments for the duration of this phase of the permit and allowed at least two wells to be drilled and tested and significant new seismic data to be acquired. The block's Operator, Petroceltic Ksar Hadada Limited, has a 28.07% Working Interest.

The primary targets on the Ksar Hadada block are Cambro-Ordovician quartzites and the Silurian Acacus Sandstone. Several large oil-prone prospects have been mapped; these are sourced by the Silurian Tanezzuft Shale, which is the main source rock for North Africa. A recent light oil discovery in the Cambro-Ordovician immediately to the south of the block in the adjacent Remada Sud permit has now validated the potential of the Ksar Hadada prospects. Across the border in Libya high oil production rates have been achieved on test from multiple Acacus wells, providing added attraction to the Acacus play on Ksar Hadada. In addition, significant shale oil prospectivity remains to be mapped and tested. 

IRG was admitted to AIM in December 2005 and alongside its exploration interests in Tunisia is pursuing an integrated gas business in Italy which includes the onshore Ribolla shale gas basin near the north-west coast, and the strategically-positioned Rivara gas storage facility in the Po Valley. The company is focusing on developing both conventional oil and unconventional gas production, and building a profitable portfolio through wholly-owned initiatives and partnerships.

 

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