“Civil war has meant there has been no onshore drilling for 34 years, which means onshore Angola has been preserved in aspic,” Roc CEO John Doran said.

“The 3D survey was a first for onshore Angola. The seismic was acquired by the Geophysical Institute of Israel while matters related to explosive ordnance disposal were undertaken by Demining Enterprises International (Pty) Ltd.”

Roc Oil (Cabinda) Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Roc, which operates the Cabinda South Block, onshore Angola. has acquired 162 sq km 3D seismic and 505 km 2D seismic.

Preliminary results of the seismic processing confirm that data quality is generally good to excellent and there is an abundance of structuring, although it is too early to tell how many of the structures represent valid closures worthy of drilling.

“The odds are anything we find will be in the tens of millions of barrels but a field in the adjacent Congo has been defined as having several hundred million barrels, so there is a small chance of a really big find,” Doran said.

The Cabinda South Joint Venture plans to undertake another substantial seismic survey next year ahead of a multi-well exploration drilling program. This drilling program is currently targeted to start in late 2006, subject to onset of the year-end rainy season, rig availability and the results of the seismic interpretation which has just begun.

Elsewhere in west Africa, a well tentatively scheduled for deepwater Equatorial Guinea will not be drilled prior to April 2006 because of the lack of suitable rigs, Roc said.