Mauritania Drilling Update

Roc Oil Company Limited
23 November 2004





23 November 2004
                        ROC OIL COMPANY LIMITED ('ROC')
                                        
                             STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE
                                        
                      MAURITANIA OFFSHORE DRILLING UPDATE

ROC advises that the following release was made earlier today by Woodside
Petroleum Limited:

'Woodside Mauritania Pty Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Woodside Petroleum
Ltd., reports the following activity offshore Mauritania since the last report
issued on 16 November 2004.

                                 PSC-B, Block 4
                         Tiof-3 ST2, Tiof-4 and Merou-1

Tiof-3 ST2 Appraisal well
At midnight on 22 November, preliminary activities prior to flow testing the
well were underway on the 'West Navigator' drill ship. A further announcement
will be made when the results are known.

Tiof-4 Appraisal well
Following the successful appraisal results, the well was subsequently plugged
and abandoned as planned, and on 18 November 2004, the 'Stena Tay' drill rig
then moved to the Merou-1 location.

Merou-1 Exploration well
The Merou-1 exploration well was spudded by the 'Stena Tay' drill rig on
19 November 2004 in 1,776 metres of water. The 18 1/2 inch hole was drilled to a
depth of 2,663 metres where the 13 3/8 inch casing was set. At midnight on
22 November the current operation was preparing to drill ahead to the target
interval.

All reported drilling depths are referenced to the rig rotary table and all
times are Universal Time (UTC) (Mauritanian time).

The locations of the Chinguetti Oil Field, the Tiof and Banda discoveries and
exploration wells to be drilled early in the 2004-05 drilling campaign are shown
on the attached map*.

Wells are expected to be drilled in two production sharing contract areas during
the remainder of the 2004/5 campaign.'

Participating Interests in the areas are:

          +-----------------------------------+-----------+----------+
          |              Company              |   PSC-A   |  PSC-B   |
          +-----------------------------------+-----------+----------+
          |Woodside group companies (Operator)|  53.846%  | 53.846%  |
          +-----------------------------------+-----------+----------+
          |Hardman group companies            |   24.3%   |  21.6%   |
          +-----------------------------------+-----------+----------+
          |BG group companies                 |  13.084%  |  11.63%  |
          +-----------------------------------+-----------+----------+
          |Premier group companies            |    --     |  9.231%  |
          +-----------------------------------+-----------+----------+
          |Fusion group companies             |  4. 615%  |    --    |
          +-----------------------------------+-----------+----------+
          |Roc Oil group companies            |  4.155%   |  3.693%  |
          +-----------------------------------+-----------+----------+

*Map attached to the copy of this release on ROC's website
(http://www.rocoil.com.au/Pages/ASX_Releases/2004_Releases/November-2004.html)

Bruce Clement                            For further information please contact:
Chief Operating Officer                                         Dr John Doran on
                                                            Tel: [phone]
                                                            Fax: [phone]
                                                    E-mail: [e-mail]
                                                         Or visit ROC's website:
                                                               www.rocoil.com.au

                                                                   Dr Kevin Hird
                                            General Manager Business Development
                                                       Tel:  [phone]
                                                       Fax:  [phone]
                                                     Email:  [e-mail]
 
                                                Ann-Marie Wilkinson/Nick Lambert
                                            Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial
                                                      Tel:  [phone]




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