Roc Oil: Exploration Drilling Kicks Off in South China Sea

Roc Oil (China) Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of ROC and the operator of Block 22/12 exploration licence, has announced the start of the exploration drilling programme in Block 22/12 in the Beibu Gulf, South China Sea.

This programme is intended to test field limits and a number of additional prospects within the vicinity of WZ6-12 oil field.

WZ6-12 and WZ12-8 West oil fields’ facilities are currently under development by the Beibu Project development operator, CNOOC Limited. Following the exploration programme, a multi-well development drilling programme will commence using the same rig, subject to approval from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), which is expected shortly.

Up to four exploration wells will be drilled using the Hai Yang Shi You (HYSY) 931 jack-up drilling rig within the designated development areas, with the combined drilling programme planned to be completed during Q3, 2013.

At 1630 hrs (local time) on 1 October, 2012 the HYSY 931 rig commenced drilling the WZ6-12N-1 vertical exploration well. This first exploration well is located in approximately 30 metres of water and is expected to reach Total Depth (TD) of approximately 1600 metres.

Participating interests1 in the Beibu Gulf exploration programme are:

Roc Oil (China) Company 40%

Petsec Petroleum LLC2 25%

Horizon Oil (Beibu) Limited2 30%

Oil Australia Pty Ltd (Majuko Corp) 5%

[mappress]
Press Release, October 2, 2012