Roc Oil Company Limited
07 August 2007
7 August 2007
ROC OIL COMPANY LIMITED ('ROC')
STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE
ACTIVITY UPDATE: EXPLORATION DRILLING,
ONSHORE ANGOLA - MASSAMBALA-1
Roc Oil (Cabinda) Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of ROC, advises that as of
0600 hours on 6 August 2007 (local time), the ROC-owned 'Explorer' rig had
directionally drilled the Massambala-1 exploration well in the Cabinda South
Block, onshore Angola, to final Total Depth of 2,192 metres below rotary table
('mBRT') and completed wireline logging. The current operation at the well is
preparing to drill a shallow side track hole.
Current interpretation of the results of the drilling and wireline logging
programme suggest that:
• The main zone of interest in Massambala-1 lies between 394 mBRT and 433
mBRT where good oil shows were observed over a gross interval of 39 metres.
Of particular interest are anomalous log responses, which could be
interpreted as indicating moveable hydrocarbon, over a 20 metre gross
interval within the zone of good oil shows. Other minor log anomalies exist
above and below this zone, but do not coincide with oil shows. The 20 metre
interval of most interest exhibits good to excellent potential reservoir
quality with 18 metres (90%) net sand with an average porosity of about 27%.
However, wireline sampling did not recover any oil from this zone of
interest which, when combined with pressure gradient measurements, raises
the spectre that the zone represents a heavy oil accumulation or, possibly,
a residual oil column.
• The well's primary pre-drill target had no indications of hydrocarbons.
The forward programme at Massambala-1 is to plug the well back and sidetrack in
order to core the shallow zone of interest referred to above. This operation is
expected to be completed within two weeks.
After drilling operations at Massambala-1 are complete, the rig will move to
drill Cevada-1 in the eastern part of the Block.
Consistent with the most recent schedule, the Simmons 80 Rig arrived in Cabinda
in late July and is expected to start drilling Soja-1 prior to the end of
August.
Commenting on the results of Massambala-1, ROC's CEO, Dr John Doran, stated
that:
'Because we are at the beginning of a big drilling campaign, it is essential
that we try to nail the exact nature of the shallow oil zone at Massambala-1 as
soon as possible because if it proves to be producible, the upside potential is
well worth chasing.'
Participating Interests in the Cabinda South Block are:
ROC Group Companies (Operator) 60%
Force Petroleum Limited 20%
Sonangol P&P S.A. 20%
In accordance with ASX and AIM Rules, the information in this Release has been
reviewed and approved by Dr John Doran, Chief Executive Officer, Roc Oil Company
Limited, BSc (Hons) Geology, MSc and PhD. Dr Doran, who is a member of the
Society of Petroleum Engineers, has more than 30 years relevant experience
within the industry and consents to the information in the form and context in
which it appears.
Damian Fisher
General Manager
External Affairs & Investor Relations
For further information please contact:
Dr John Doran on
Tel: +61-2-8356-2000
Fax: +61-2-9380-2635
Email: jdoran@rocoil.com.au
Or visit ROC's website: www.rocoil.com.au
Dr Kevin Hird
General Manager - Business Development
Tel: +44 20 7495 5707/+61 2 8356 2000
Mob: +44 775136 7149/+61 417 261 727
Email: khird@rocoil.com.au
Michael Shaw
Oriel Securities Limited (Nominated Adviser)
Tel: +44 (0)20 7710 7600
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
*A Private Investor is a recipient of the information who meets all of the conditions set out below, the recipient:
Obtains access to the information in a personal capacity;
Is not required to be regulated or supervised by a body concerned with the regulation or supervision of investment or financial services;
Is not currently registered or qualified as a professional securities trader or investment adviser with any national or state exchange, regulatory authority, professional association or recognised professional body;
Does not currently act in any capacity as an investment adviser, whether or not they have at some time been qualified to do so;
Uses the information solely in relation to the management of their personal funds and not as a trader to the public or for the investment of corporate funds;
Does not distribute, republish or otherwise provide any information or derived works to any third party in any manner or use or process information or derived works for any commercial purposes.
Please note, this site uses cookies. Some of the cookies are essential for parts of the site to operate and have already been set. You may delete and block all cookies from this site, but if you do, parts of the site may not work. To find out more about the cookies used on Investegate and how you can manage them, see our Privacy and Cookie Policy
To continue using Investegate, please confirm that you are a private investor as well as agreeing to our Privacy and Cookie Policy & Terms.