This morning the partners said analysis of data gathered during second quarter drilling of three wells in Block 22/12 indicated a cluster of exploration targets near the 6-12-1 (Wei) oil discovery well in the northern part of the block. The collective, unrisked, potential for these prospects is estimated by operator ROC Oil to be 40 to 50 mmbo recoverable.

“The data also confirms the highly viscous nature of the oil contained in the 12-8 East Field in the southern part of the block. However, post-drill analysis by the operator now indicates that the total oil in-place in this field and the adjacent 12-8 West Field, is approximately 50% more than the independently calculated pre-drill estimates of 119 mmbo.

Chairman of junior partner First Australian Resources, Michael Evans, said “This is a welcome turnaround. Armed with this new information and by exploiting new development technologies and possible infrastructure sharing we may be able to commercialise the 12-8 East field notwithstanding the highly viscous nature of the oil. The substantially larger volume of in-place oil now recognised in the southern part of the block, combined with stronger oil prices, have gone some way towards mitigating the viscosity factor.

The optimistic hopes of the partners were downgraded by a lack of success in the appraisal program, with two dry holes and confirmation of the viscous properties of the oil, which poses production problems.

Interests are: ROC Oil 40%, Horizon Oil 30%, Petsec Energy 25% and Fist Australian Resources 5%.