Pearl Energy Beginning Work on Block B 5/27 Offshore Thailand

PEARL Energy reports that the arrival of the ENSCO 107 jackup in the Block B 5/27 contract area in the Gulf of Thailand in preparation for a minimum six-well exploration program in and around the Jasmine Production Area.

The 60-day drilling program is slated to comprise three exploration wells within the Jasmine PA, and one to the north and two to the south of the Jasmine PA but all within Block B 5/27. The program is designed to assess additional oil prospects in the vicinity of the Jasmine field that may be commercially viable using existing infrastructure.

The Jasmine oil field commenced production from Platform A in June 2005 and in August last year PEARL approved the construction and installation of two additional platforms at the B and C locations following a successful five-well exploration campaign. Platform B will be located 3.7 km northwest of the Jasmine Venture MV7 floating production, storage and offloading ("FPSO") vessel and Platform C will be situated 4 km south of the FPSO.

Block B 5/27 is located offshore in the Gulf of Thailand and covers an area of 1,931 sq. km. Platform B and Platform C will be connected via sub-sea pipeline to the Jasmine Venture MV7 FPSO located close to Platform A. Both platforms are expected to be in production by the second quarter of 2007.