Niko Abandons Jayarani-1 Well. Moves Rig to Ajek-1 (Indonesia)

Niko Resources Ltd., along with partner Zaratex N.V., announces the Jayarani-1 well, located in the Lhokseumawe PSC offshore Aceh western Indonesia, has reached TD at a depth of 11,537′.

The well penetrated the pre-drill geologic objectives of Oligo-Miocene Peutu and Cunda carbonates, but no commercial reservoir was encountered. The Niko Indonesia team completed this first well of a multi-well program safely, under budget and ahead of schedule, significantly improving performance in comparison to the offset wells drilled by other operators. Jayarani-1 is the first well in Niko’s planned program of more than 25 deep water wells in Indonesia.

Niko said it would mobilize the Ocean Monarch drilling rig to the West Papua region of eastern Indonesia where it will begin drilling the Ajek-1 well in the Kofiau PSC, the first well to be drilled based on its SeaSeep™ technology, followed by the Cikar-1 well in the West Papua IV PSC and at least four other wells in the area. Partners in the upcoming wells include Hess on Ajek-1 and Statoil on Cikar-1. The Niko Indonesia business plan has been to acquire a large number of PSCs in emerging exploration trends, use advanced technology to develop a portfolio of high impact wells, execute leveraged farm-outs, and target partners with worldwide deep water experience.

[mappress]
November 9, 2012