Perth, Aug 14, 2008 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Empire Oil & Gas (ASX:EGO)(PINK:EOLGF) Announce that Rough Range Oil Pty Ltd, the Operator for the Lake MacLeod-1 Joint Venture well, advises that the timeframe of mobilising DCA Rig 7 onto the well location is 28 August 2008.
The initial Lake MacLeod-1 wellsite remains unstable due to rainfall and with its proximity to Lake MacLeod, the location has been moved onto firmer ground but still within that area that has been the subject of an aboriginal heritage survey. The decision has been made to ensure the stability of the drilling rig during drilling operations and maintaining a reasonable drilling timetable. Preparing a new Lake MacLeod-1 well location is underway to progress drilling instead of waiting on the initial well location to dry out.
The Lake MacLeod-1 structure is interpreted from seismic data as an anticlinal feature where Devonian aged carbonate sediments drape over an older Silurian aged fault block. This structure exhibits the necessary pre-requisites of structural timing for oil generation and entrapment.
The larger Lake MacLeod structure within both EP 439 and EP 461 covers an area of 27,500 hectares (70,000 acres). Estimated potential recoverable reserves for the larger Lake MacLeod structure, if the structure is filled to its maximum spill point, are in the order of 150 million barrels.
Potential recoverable oil reserves within the Lake MacLeod structure in the EP 461 permit are more conservatively calculated, using a 5,000 hectare closure at the top Nannyarra Sandstone, to be in the order of 30 million barrels of oil.
The participants in the Lake MacLeod-1 well are:
Rough Range Oil Pty Ltd (Empire) - 30.35% (Operator)
Longreach Oil Limited - 9.352%
Indigo Oil Pty Ltd - 4.676%
Falcore Pty Ltd - 2.596%
Vigilant Oil Pty Ltd - 0.52%
Jurassica Oil & Gas Plc - 35%
Black Fire Energy Limited - earning 7.5% by Farmin from the J.V.
DVM International Limited - earning 10% by Farmin from the J.V
Bee-Eater-1 well in EP 359, Exmouth Sub Basin, Carnarvon Basin
The Western Australian Department of Industry and Resources, Petroleum and Royalties Division granted the approval of the Bee-Eater-1 Environmental Management Plan on 11 August 2008.
The Bee-Eater-1 well location siteworks are now near completed. The Company's drilling camp will be located on the existing camp location Empire used for drilling Parrot Hill-2 in EP 435 in April 2007. The Company will utilise the existing water bore, access roads and other infrastructure on this site.
It is planned to drill Bee-Eater-1 following drilling Lake MacLeod-1 with DCA Rig 7. Bee-Eater-1 is an exciting prospect located on the eastern side of the Miocene aged Rough Range Anticline. The structural development of Bee-Eater-1 is interpreted to predate oil generation and migration from the Paterson Trough and pre-dates the formation of the Rough Range Fault and Anticline. The timing of an early formed Bee-Eater structure enhances the possibility that it could be charged with oil to its spill point from oil migrating from the Paterson Trough. The seismically defined structure has been the subject of several geochemical surveys which have demonstrated repeated hydrocarbon anomalies over the Bee-Eater structure. The Bee-Eater-1 well is located nearby the Company's Rough Range Oil Production Facility which will progress early oil production upon an oil discovery.
Empire has estimated recoverable oil reserves in the Bee-Eater structure, which also extends into the Company's EP 435 Permit, to contain up to 5 million barrels.
Empire would also progress the drilling of the Rainbow-1 well located on the extension of the Bee-Eater structure with the EP 435 Joint Venture into the adjoining permit EP 435 which is also operated by Empire Oil & Gas N.L.'s wholly owned subsidiary Rough Range Oil Pty Ltd.
The participants in the Bee-Eater-1 well are:
Rough Range Oil Pty Ltd (Empire) - 33.36% (Operator)
Victoria Petroleum N.L. - 31.65%
Pace Petroleum Pty Ltd - 1.67%
Farminees - 33.32%
Contact
Empire Oil & Gas N.L.
Managing Director
Mr Craig Marshall
Tel: +61-8-6389-2687
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