Australia: Tap Oil Sales Revenue Doubles

Tap Oil Limited an independent oil & gas exploration and production company with interests in Australia and South East Asia announces quarterly report for the quarter ended 30 September 2011.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Sales revenue of over $28 million – up over 100% due to increased oil liftings
• Greater Zola Structure exceeds the upper end of Tap’s 2 Tcf (gross) pre-drill estimate – confirmed by independent expert
• 6.1 million barrels of 2P oil reserves booked for Manora – a major milestone
• Ultimate potential size of the Manora field increased 30% to 31 million barrels (gross recoverable)
• Receipt of US$20 million from BHP Billiton as the first installment for the sale of 25% of WA-351-P
• Multiple large prospects mapped in Ghana with unrisked potential of greater than 3 billion barrels
• Sale of Tap’s interest in Block M, Brunei

Troy Hayden, Managing Director/CEO at Tap Oil commented:

“Following the exploration successes in the previous quarter, a significant portion of the September quarter was spent working on appraisal and development activities as well as progressing exploration in Ghana and Thailand.

Following the Zola discovery, Tap had RPS Energy Services Pty Ltd (“RPS”) conduct an independent resource evaluation report on the Greater Zola Structure. The report confirmed the Zola-1 well delineated a mean Contingent Resource of 378 Bcf and, in addition, Prospective Resources of 2.3 Tcf (mean estimate) in the Greater Zola Structure. This is significantly greater than the upper end of our pre-drill estimate of 1-2 Tcf. We will now work through various options for extracting  the most value for Tap shareholders from the Zola asset.

The Finucane South discovery in WA-191-P is progressing well. Santos is proceeding rapidly with a proposed three well tieback to the Mutineer – Exeter facility. Santos have stated they expect to be in a position to recommend a Final  Investment Decision in early 2012 with the potential for first production before the end of 2013. We expect to book over 1 million barrels of 2P reserves soon. In the highly prospective WA-351-P permit, BHP Billiton is working toward drilling  the large Tallaganda prospect in early 2012. Due to the earlier farmout, Tap will be carried on this well for US$10 million. In Ghana, our mapping now shows multiple large prospects in both the post rift Upper Cretaceous fan sands (the same play type as Jubilee) and in the pre-rift Lower Cretaceous rotated fault blocks (the same play type as the Espoir and Baobab oil fields). To date several prospects and leads, most drill ready, have been mapped with unrisked potential of greater than 3 billion barrels. With the Manora development in Thailand, the operator  has now defined the field development concept. This important step means that the project has now progressed to the point where Tap has booked 6.1 million barrels of oil (mmbbls) net to Tap. There was also further good news with the ultimate production from the field now estimated to be 30% higher at 31.1 mmbbls gross recoverable. During the quarter we also completed the sale of our interest in Block M, onshore Brunei for US$2  million. This was an important  transaction for Tap. It removed a significant commitment of up to four wells, which could have cost up to US$20m and frees up valuable resources. “

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Source:Tap Oil , October 31, 2011