AFR.L Regulatory News (AFR)

14 Dec 2006 07:01

Afren PLC14 December 2006 Afren plc (AIM: AFR) Completion of appraisal drilling on the Okoro field, offshore Nigeria London, 14 December 2006 - AMNI International Petroleum Development CompanyLimited ("AMNI") and Afren plc ("Afren" or "the Company") announce thesuccessful completion of appraisal drilling on the Okoro field offshore Nigeria. Amni and Afren are pleased to announce the successful completion of appraisaldrilling on the Okoro field in Nigeria. Okoro-3 was the first well to be drilled by Afren/Amni on OML 112 in the shallowwater Niger Delta. The well was drilled as a vertical well and reached totaldepth of 6,500ft in the Miocene Agbada Formation. The well confirmed the easternextension of the field and also the hydrocarbon contacts seen in both sandformations in the initial discovery. A full suite of modern log and pressuredata was acquired and the well was successfully tested. Following completion of testing operations, a second appraisal well was drilledon the Okoro Field. The well was drilled as a deviated sidetrack from theOkoro-3 wellbore and was designed to further evaluate both reservoirs andprovide greater control for planning future horizontal production wells. TheOkoro-3 side track was drilled at a maximum inclination of 55 degrees to thewest of Okoro-3 and reached a total depth of 6,870ft. A full suite of pressureand log data was acquired and, as planned, the well was not tested. A total of70ft (True Vertical Depth) of net oil pay was encountered, which was greaterthan expected at this location. Evaluation of the well results are on-going andpreparation and submission of a Field Development Plan for the Okoro and SetuField development to the Government of Nigeria is scheduled for January 2007. The two well drilling programme - Afren's first as technical operator - was anexcellent operational success and was completed on budget and on schedule. A nine month development drilling programme on both the Okoro and Setu Fields isscheduled to commence in Q3 2007 using the Global Santa Fe Adriatic VI drillingunit and the Company remains on schedule to achieve first oil in early 2008. Brian O'Cathain, Chief Executive of Afren, commented "We are delighted to have successfully completed Afren's first operatedappraisal drilling programme on the Okoro Field on budget and on schedule. This additional penetration of the Okoro field will assist us in planning thehorizontal wells which will be required to develop the field. As a result of thetwo well appraisal drilling programme, Afren has enhanced the proved andprobable reserves cases on the Okoro-Setu development. The Field Development Plan is on schedule to be submitted to the Government ofNigeria in January to commence a fast-track development programme in Q3 2007.Afren and our co-venturers AMNI remain on track for production of 15-20,000 bopdby early 2008". Enquiries: Afren +44 20 7182 1800Brian O'Cathain boc@afren.com ---------------Osman Shahenshah os@afren.com --------------- Pelham Public Relations +44 020 7743 6673James Henderson james.henderson@pelhampr.com ------------------------------Alisdair alisdair.haythornthwaite@pelhampr.comHaythornthwaite --------------------------------------- Afren Afren (www.afren.com) was founded in December 2004 by a management teamincluding Dr Rilwanu Lukman with the vision to become the leading pan Africanindependent Exploration and Production company. Since the Initial PublicOffering in March 2005, Afren has rapidly expanded its African portfolio acrossfive countries; Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Gabon, Congo and Angola. TheGroup is expecting to produce 15 to 20,000 barrels per day by 2008 from itscurrent portfolio. Afren will continue to add to its diversified portfolio of near termdevelopments and high impact exploration licences with the overall objective ofcreating substantial shareholder value. Note In accordance with the AIM Rules, the drilling update information in this reporthas been reviewed and signed off by Dr Nick Johnson, who is Head of Explorationand Production at Afren Plc and has over 25 years relevant experience within thesector. He consents to the information in the form and context in which itappears. The Company estimates its reserves in accordance with the guidelinesand definitions of the Society of Petroleum Engineers/World Petroleum Congress("SPE/WPC") reserves classification (March 1997) using accepted engineeringprinciples. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange