“Victoria Petroleum N.L. is very pleased with the wire line results for the Mirage-1 well and the new interpretation of the earlier drill stem test that recovered oil,” Kopcheff said.

Wire line logs, sidewall cores and down hole wire line formation sample testing run over the weekend indicate a gross oil column of 17 metres extending from 1,320-1,337 metres. A potential six metres of net pay is interpreted from the wire line logs and sidewall cores.

The results of the first drill stem test carried out on 12 December 2004 over the interval 1,322-1,329 metres have undergone further interpretation. It now seems the test was only partially successful as the tool plugged shortly after it was opened.

Before this plugging, an initial oil influx into the drill pipe at a rate of 500 barrels of oil per day was observed. This rate is greater than the rate of 150 barrels of 54 API oil per day initially reported.

“These results indicate that the Mirage oil discovery is much better than we originally thought,” Kopcheff said.

“The total oil column of 17 metres within the Murta Formation of Mirage-1 will be tested through cased hole with completion and production testing planned to commence on January 11, 2005.”

The determination of the recoverable oil reserves for the Mirage Oil Field will be subject to the production testing results and further development drilling on the Mirage oil Field.

Mirage-1 is 5 kilometres to the east of the Ventura-1 well that recovered 44 barrels of clean oil from the McKinlay-Namur sandstones with an indicated potential pump rate of 340 barrels of oil per day.

“With our Ventura Oil Field discovery and now the Mirage Oil Field discovery, it appears that there is a highly prospective Murta oil trend present in the southern part of the permit,” Kopcheff said.

This trend extends from west to east, from the Almonta Structure, shared with Beach Petroleum, through to Victoria Petroleum’s Ventura-Mirage-Lightning structures.

“We await with interest the reported drilling planned by Beach Petroleum in early 2005 on the portion of the Almonta Prospect within the adjacent Beach Petroleum operated permit,” Kopcheff said.

With the Mirage Oil Field discovery, Victoria Petroleum has achieved a 50% oil discovery success rate with the 2004 drilling program in PEL 115, according to Kopcheff.

Participants in the drilling program in PEL 115 are

Victoria Petroleum NL (operator) 40%, Roma Petroleum NL 20%, Impress Ventures Ltd 15%, Entek Energy Ltd 12.5% and Tacnas Pty Ltd 12.5%.