Operations Update

RNS Number : 8389J

Petroneft Resources PLC

06 July 2011

 



6 July 2011

PetroNeft Resources plc

("PetroNeft" or the "Group" or the "Company")

Operations Update

PetroNeft Resources plc (AIM: PTR) owner and operator of Licences 61 and 67, Tomsk Oblast, Russian Federation, is pleased to provide an update on its operations.

Highlights:

·      Kondrashevskoye No. 2 sidetrack well confirms 2P reserves

·      Lineynoye 206 contains thickest oil pay encountered to date

·      Lineynoye/West Lineynoye has materially thicker pay and extends significantly further north than originally anticipated

·      Several new oil bearing structures are now likely to the north of Lineynoye/West Lineynoye

Licence 61 Exploration/Delineation programme

The Kondrashevskoye No. 2 sidetrack has been  drilled down dip from the Kondrashevskoye No. 2 well and penetrated the oil water contact in the objective J1-1 sandstone interval at -2,465 m true vertical depth ("TVD").  The reservoir interval of 3 metres in the sidetrack section was slightly thicker than in the vertical well with the top metre of the reservoir oil bearing.

Based on the results, the well has most likely confirmed the existing independent Ryder Scott 2P reserves of 8.1 mmbo attributed to the field and we will now update the reserves with the Russian State Reserve committee in preparation for field development.  The exact timing of development will depend upon how the economics of this field compares with other nearby fields, most notably Arbuzovskoye.

Production casing has been run and cemented in the well so it can be used when the field is developed.  The drilling crew is in the process of moving to the potentially high impact Sibkrayevskaya exploration prospect which will commence drilling shortly.

Licence 61 Development programme

The Lineynoye 206 development well drilled from Pad 2 to the north contained 21.9 metres of gross sandstone with 18.5 metres of net pay which is the thickest net pay interval encountered to date in the drilling programme.  The reservoir interval was completely saturated with oil and confirmed an oil-down-to of -2,437.5 m TVD, some 15 metres deeper than the previously mapped structural spill point of the field to the north.

The results of this and other recent Pad 2 wells have shown that the northern part of the Lineynoye field has materially thicker pay and extends significantly further north than originally anticipated.  This has positive implications for reserves and productivity in this region of the field and for the likelihood of several new structures north of Lineynoye/West Lineynoye to be oil bearing.

Dennis Francis, Chief Executive Officer of PetroNeft Resources plc, commented:

"We are pleased to have proved reserves for economic development at Kondrashevskoye and will incorporate this discovery along with Arbuzovskoye in our 2012 development planning. Pad 2 drilling continues to be very encouraging with the thickest oil pay encountered yet indicating an increased probability that oil has migrated north from the Lineynoye/West Lineynoye field into the various structures contained in the undeveloped Emtorskaya High area." 

For further information, contact:

Dennis Francis, CEO, PetroNeft Resources plc	[phone]
Paul Dowling, CFO, PetroNeft Resources plc	[phone]
John Frain/Brian Garrahy, Davy (NOMAD and Joint Broker)	[phone]
Charles Berkeley/Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor, CanaccordGenuity Limited (Joint Broker)	[phone]
Martin Jackson, CitigateDeweRogerson	[phone]
Joe Murray/Ed Micheau, Murray Consultants	[phone]

The information contained in this announcement has been reviewed and verified by Mr. Dennis Francis, Director and Chief Executive Officer of PetroNeft, for the purposes of the Guidance Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies issued by the London Stock Exchange in March 2006.  Mr. Francis holds a B.S. Degree in Geophysical Engineering and a M.S. Degree in Geology from the Colorado School of Mines.  He has also graduated from the Harvard University Program for Management Development.  He is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists.  He has over 35 years experience in oil and gas exploration and development.

Forward Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements relate to the Company's future prospects, developments and business strategies. Forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as 'believe', 'could', 'envisage', 'potential', 'estimate', 'expect', 'may', 'will' or the negative of those, variations or comparable expressions, including references to assumptions.

The forward-looking statements in this announcement are based on current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by those statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as at the date of this announcement.

Glossary

mmbo	Million barrels of oil
TVD	True vertical depth

 

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