Ajek-1 Discovery Not Commercial, Niko Says (Indonesia)

January 11, 2013

Niko Resources has announced that the Ajek-1 exploration well in the Kofiau block, located offshore Papua province in eastern Indonesia, was drilled to a depth of 6,270 feet in 25 days, 32% faster than planned, and encountered 23 feet of pay over two target intervals, with additional thin bedded potential being analyzed.

Drilling confirmed the presence of reservoir and hydrocarbon charge, the primary pre-drill concerns in this previously undrilled subbasin. All sands encountered were hydrocarbon filled with no water leg and C5+ gas composition indicated liquid hydrocarbons. The well has been assessed as a subcommercial oil and gas discovery. Ajek-1 was the first well drilled in the 5,000 km2 Kofiau block and the well results will allow improved reservoir analysis assessing thin bed pay potential as well as improved prediction of potential locations with thicker sand packages.

Additional prospectivity on the Kofiau block remains to be evaluated in both the Pliocene clastic section as well as in a Miocene carbonate play. The Miocene carbonate prospects are analogous to producing fields in the nearby Salawati basin which have cumulatively produced over 500 mmbbl of oil to date. The Ocean Monarch drilling rig is mobilizing to the Niko-operated West Papua IV block where it will spud the Cikar-1 well in mid-January, with a projected drilling time of 60-70 days. Cikar-1 is targeting a large Miocene carbonate prospect.

[mappress]
January 11, 2013