Roc Oil to Begin Exploration Program in Perth Basin

Roc Oil

Roc Oil (WA) Pty Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of ROC, advises that a three well exploration drilling program is scheduled to commence in the offshore Perth Basin, Western Australia, in early April 2007.

The three wells scheduled for drilling are Frankland-1 and Dunsborough-1 in WA-286-P, and Perseverance-1 in WA-325-P. The wells will be operated by ROC using the Wilcraft jackup. The entire drilling program is expected to be completed during May 2007.

Commenting on the drilling program, ROC's Chief Executive Officer, John Doran, stated that:

"Since the 2001 discovery of the Cliff Head Oil Field with the first modern exploration well in the offshore Perth Basin, 8 exploration wells have been drilled in an attempt to find another Cliff Head or, preferably, something significantly bigger in this region, but all have been dry. From ROC's point of view, the imminent drilling program is probably the last roll of the dice involving, as it does, two wells which are government commitment wells. If this program does not yield commercial encouragement, ROC will probably consolidate its Perth Basin interest to Cliff Head and the immediately surrounding area and redirect its exploration dollars to other parts of its portfolio. If the program provides a commercial discovery, ROC will be 100% focused on working with its co-venturers to appraise and, if warranted, develop it as soon as possible."

Participants in WA-286-P are Roc Oil with 37.55; AWE with 27.5%; Wandoo Petroleum with 24%; ARC with 6% and CIECO with 5%. Participants in WA-325-P are Roc Oil with 37.5%; Apache with 37.5%; ARC with 20% and Wandoo Petroleum with 5%.


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