Operations Update

RNS Number : 6463J

Rose Petroleum PLC

06 December 2018

 

Prior to publication, the information contained within this announcement was deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR"). With the publication of this announcement, this information is now considered to be in the public domain.

6 December 2018

Rose Petroleum plc

("Rose", the "Company" or the "Group")

Operations Update

Further to the operational update announced on 1 November 2018, Rose Petroleum plc (AIM: ROSE), the AIM quoted natural resources business, is pleased to provide an update on operations for the Gunnison Valley Unit (GVU) in the Paradox Basin, Utah, U.S.A.

Operations Update

The Company has now agreed an updated operational plan with the Utah Bureau of Land Management ("BLM"), and the benefits of this agreed plan are that the current GVU boundary will now be extended to include the acreage acquired in April 2018, in which the GVU 22-1 well is located. The GVU 22-1 well is considered a top ranked well location, based on the 3D seismic interpretation and its proximity to the producing 28-11 well.

Following on from the agreed plan, Rose and its partner Rockies Standard Oil Company ("RSOC") have been in discussions with various drilling companies regarding the securing of an appropriate rig so that the GVU 22-1 can be spudded at the earliest opportunity. At the current time, it appears that a suitable rig will now be available in Q1 2019, in line with the now agreed operational plan. The Company is targeting securing the necessary drill programme funding ahead of then.

The Company has engaged Schlumberger to review the seismic attribute analysis, further validate and edit the seismic interpretation, and model the structural geometry, the distributions and orientations of natural fractures based on a geomechanical analysis within the GVU 22-1 structure. This work is expected to be completed shortly.  The modelling efforts will provide expected fracture orientations and distributions within the constraints of the available data in the GVU 22-1 location and within the wider 3D seismic area. In addition, Schlumberger and Rose will utilise the completed work to refine the well path design to optimise the fracture networks to maximise the performance of the well. The fracture systems encountered will be a major factor in the commercial success of the well.

Matthew Idiens, CEO, commented: "We appreciate the pragmatic approach taken by the BLM and are pleased that we have been able to jointly agree a revised operations plan that is for the overall benefit of all parties.

I am pleased that we now have a formal plan that allows us to drill our highest-ranked target first, which is key to the development of the project. Having clarity over operations and the BLM approval enables us to refocus on the well financing and farm-in process.

We look forward to announcing the conclusions of the Schlumberger work when possible and look forward to working with them on the GVU 22-1 well path optimisation."

Contacts:

Rose Petroleum plc Matthew Idiens (CEO) Chris Eadie (CFO)	Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone]
Allenby Capital Limited - AIM Nominated Adviser Jeremy Porter / James Reeve / Liz Kirchner Cantor Fitzgerald Europe - Financial Adviser and Joint Broker Nick Tulloch David Porter Turner Pope Investments - Joint Broker	Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone]
Andy Thacker	Tel:  [phone]

Media enquiries:

Allerton Communications	Tel: [phone]
Peter Curtain	[e-mail]

Dr Gregor Maxwell, BSc Hons. Geology and Petroleum Geology, PhD, Technical Adviser to the board of Rose Petroleum plc, who meets the criteria of a qualified person under the AIM Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies - June 2009, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained within this announcement.

Notes to editors

Rose Petroleum plc (http://rosepetroleum.com) is a North America-focused oil and gas company whose primary asset is approximately 80,000 net acres in the prolific oil and gas producing Paradox Basin in Utah, U.S.A., where it is earning into a 75% working interest. Using high-quality data gathered in a 3D seismic survey completed in October 2017, the Company has identified drilling locations in naturally fractured areas of the Paradox Formation and has chosen the first well location and it is now permitted to drill and plans to commence the drilling programme and the first well as soon as possible, subject to rig availability, stipulations of the leases and financing. All of which should be achievable within the next few months.

On 22 June 2018, Rose announced a Competent Person's Report ("CPR") and Maiden Contingent Resource by Gaffney Cline & Associates ("GCA") on the Rose acreage covered by the 3D seismic, approximately 17,250 acres of the 80,000 acres held.  The CPR estimated a 2C Contingent Resource, net to Rose, of 9.25 MMBbl of oil and 18.50 Bscf of gas, and an unrisked pre-tax Net Present Value (NPV10) on the 2C Resources, net to Rose, of US$122 million. The CPR focused solely on one single reservoir - the Cane Creek reservoir (the "CCR" or "Clastic 21") - of the multiple prospective reservoirs within the Paradox Formation.

The Company's established management is supported by an expert technical team with extensive experience of the basin, where current operations nearby have proven successful, with significant initial production rates and low decline rates, offering strong economics even in the present oil price environment.

The Company's strategy is to grow both organically and through acquisition, identifying additional hydrocarbon assets, conventional or unconventional, that would benefit from the Company's fast-acting, entrepreneurial approach.

Rose Petroleum has been quoted on AIM since June 2004.

 

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