Oilex: Drilling Activities in Indonesia, India and Oman Progressing

Oilex Ltd reports drilling of Pendalian-3 in Indonesia is now due to commence later this month. Drilling of Bhandut-2Z due to start this month followed by Cambay-23Z and a continuous 9 month program in India as well as 3 wells in Oman commencing in November under a drilling contract now confirmed.

INDONESIA, WEST KAMPAR PSC

The Operator Sumatera Persada Energi (SPE) has advised that mobilization of the drilling rig has been hampered by washout of narrow access roads caused by heavy monsoon rains and the operations on site have, consequently, been proceeding slowly as the rains continue to retard progress. The materials and most of the equipment are on site and rigging up has commenced in preparation for spud of Pendalian-3 well in due course.

The Pendalian-3 well will appraise the oil field discovered in 1993 by the Pendalian-1 well, a cored slim hole which encountered a number of oil zones at depths ranging from 250 metres to 500 metres. Two shallow zones in the Sihapas Sandstone flowed oil from cased hole tests in Pendalian-1, one at 530 barrels per day.

Participants in the West Kampar Production Sharing Contract are:

Joint Venture Party                   Participating Interest  
Oilex                                 45%                     
Sumatera Persada Energi (Operator)    55%                     

INDIA - BHANDUT AND CAMBAY FIELDS

The Cambay and Bhandut Joint Ventures have been successful in procuring a rig and services to commence drilling at Bhandut and Cambay Fields ahead of the delayed arrival of the rig that was contracted in May and the subject of earlier announcements. The rig is owned by Quipo Oil & Gas Infrastructure Ltd an Indian company that has been operating in Gujarat. The deployment of this rig will enable the drilling of 2 or more wells that will assist with the assessment of reserves potential at the earliest opportunity.

The program is expected to start on or about 17 September. Under the terms of the rig contract the Joint Venture has the option to drill up to 5 wells.

Bhandut Field - The first well in the sequence will be Bhandut-2Z, a re-entry and sidetrack of an existing production well that has produced oil at rates of up to 200 barrels per day in the past. Currently it is producing at rates of about 15 barrels of oil per day with a significant volume of water. The well will be sidetracked to a structurally higher location and a 100m horizontal wellbore will be drilled into the main reservoir unit. On the basis that the water production can be terminated the well will be completed as a producer.

Participants in the Bhandut Production Sharing Contract are:

Joint Venture Party                          Participating Interest *
Oilex (Operator)                             40%                     
Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd      60%                     

Cambay Field - The first wells in Cambay, to follow the Bhandut-2Z well, are located to acquire modern fluid, pressure, core and wireline data in areas where data quality is poor, particularly in the main basin where gas has been tested and produced from old wells. The 2 wells that were drilled late last year on the Western High Area were located without the benefit of the 3D seismic and they tested oil from 2 zones. At present there are no modern data from the gas-bearing horizons and in order to assess the development potential of the gas resource, the primary objective of first wells at Cambay will be to acquire the data necessary for confirming reserves and to test the seismic anomalies that are interpreted to be direct indicators of gas.

Participants in the Cambay Production Sharing Contract are:

Joint Venture Party                       Participating Interest *
Oilex (Operator)                          45%                     
Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd   55%                     

* The participating interests are subject to the approval of the Government of India for the assignment of 8.33% interest from Oilex (currently 53.33%) to GSPC (currently 46.67%). The parties are sharing costs in proportion to the current participating interests.

OMAN, BLOCK 56

A letter of intent for the award of a contract for a drilling rig has been issued to Abraj - Energy Holdings, an Omani company, for a drilling program initially of 3 wells that is expected to start in November. The contract is for 3 firm wells and the Joint Venture has the option to drill up to 8 additional wells.

Two of the first 3 wells are located in the western part of the block on structures that appear to be of similar form to producing fields immediately to the west in the South Oman Salt Basin. The third well will be drilled in a remote area along a prominent geological trend that has not been drilled previously. These locations were selected using the existing and reprocessed 2D and 3D seismic data and are not contingent on the interpretation of the 1000 km seismic acquisition program underway in the block.

The 2D seismic acquisition survey has started in the southwest part of the block and is about 17% complete. The acquisition is expected to be finalized about the end of October.

Participants in Block 56 Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement are:

Joint Venture Party                        Participating Interest  
Oilex Oman Limited (Operator)              25%                     
Videocon Industries Ltd                    25%                     
GAIL India Ltd                             25%                     
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd           12.5%                   
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd        12.5%