The company reported it would also continue evaluating its interests in Australia and in the Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA) between Australia and Timor-Leste.

For now, Oilex has exploration programs planned for Oman, India and Indonesia, which will be fully funded by $54 million of existing cash reserves.

The program began late last year with the Pendalian-3 oil discovery in Indonesia and the first well in Oman, currently drilling.

Oilex managing director, Dr Bruce McCarthy, said 2008 would be a landmark year with the potential for significant oil and gas projects expected to be brought onstream, and a major exploration program already underway to boost the company’s reserves.

“2008 will be an exceptionally active year for Oilex, with our first priority being to confirm the reserve base in the main reservoirs in the Cambay Field, ahead of first production that could occur in the second half of the year,” he said.

The Cambay Field has a best estimate resource of 48 million barrels of oil in place and 356 billion cubic feet of gas in place – including 52bcf of gas already produced – from two known reservoirs, the Oligocene and the Eocene.

Following the interpretation of 3D seismic data last year, Oilex announced a six-well drilling program over the next nine months at the Cambay Field to confirm reserves in the two identified zones, while also evaluating the resource potential in deeper reservoir horizons, which are expected to provide significant exploration upside.

The newly-built rig is on location and is being commissioned in the lead-up to spudding the first well, expected to occur within the next 3-6 weeks.

Oilex’s second priority development target is the West Kampar PSC, located onshore Sumatra, Indonesia, where last year’s test program at the Pendalian Field confirmed commercial oil flows of at least 1000 barrels of oil per day.

McCarthy said the immediate focus at West Kampar was to bring the Pendalian-3 well into production, expected at over 1000bopd, as well as acquire 50 square kilometres of 3D seismic data over the field to determine development well locations planned for drilling in the third quarter.

The company also plans to shoot 2D seismic on the prospective Daludalu exploration trend in the north of the block.

“The operator considers that between three and five development wells are likely at Pendalian, with first production targeted for the second quarter of 2008,” he said.

“Both the Cambay and Pendalian Fields represent excellent low-cost, low-risk production opportunities for Oilex, which will provide early cash-flow to underpin intensive exploration programs across the company’s portfolio.”

Oilex has drilling underway at the Block 56 production-sharing contract area, onshore Oman, where the exploration well, Sarha-1, spudded at the end of last year and has recorded oil shows in the two main objective horizons.

The well is the first of three exploration wells to be drilled in continuous sequence by Oilex at Block 56, to be followed by four wells in Q3 and a further four wells in Q4.

Sarha-1 has a best estimate resource of 20 million barrels of oil in place (MMstboip) in the shallower, Permian objective, plus significant additional exploration upside in the Cambrian Huqf formation.

The second and third wells, Ghadaq-1 and Alyanbhou-1, have a best estimate resource of 14 MMstboip and 135 MMstboip respectively, suggesting significant potential for a large-scale discovery within Oilex’s Oman Block 56.

“Oilex’s strategy has been to build a portfolio of assets that, in 2008, can be progressively moved towards production to provide cashflow to fund further exploration activities,” McCarthy said.