article in nt news, page-4

HI buddy,

The 22 million barrels relates to UCG and gas to liquid down the track if Allied Resource can help get a JV going in that area.

The statement that they are producing 400 barrels a day isn't correct though as they have only flow tested and aren't producing any oil yet.

"A NEW "oil province" has been opened up in the Territory, according to an exploration company.

Central Petroleum said it was extracting more than 400 barrels a day from the Surprise-1 well in central Australia, the first significant oil discovery in the Territory for 50 years.

Company boss John Heugh said he would now ask the Territory Government for approval to extend production to 500 barrels a day and transport the light sweet crude to a sales point, probably in Alice Springs.

"We've got a winner on our hands," he said.

"This underscores what we've been saying for a long, long time - this area is highly prospective; there's a lot of oil.

"We've now proved it. We've opened up a new oil province."

There are also good prospects for shale oil and gas.

Central Petroleum has to decide whether to drill a second well nearby or conduct a 3D seismic survey over its entire exploration tenement in Amadeus Basin.

The tenement is half the size of Texas, making it one of the biggest in the world.

Central said recoverable resources in the Amadeus, Pedirka, South Georgina and Wiso basins and the Lander Trough in central Australia were estimated at 9 billion barrels of oil and 74 trillion cubic feet of gas.

The company is searching worldwide for investment partners to help in the development of the project. It has signed a deal with assets developer Allied Resource Partners to raise money.

The aim is to initially produce 22 million barrels of fuel a year.

Coal would be converted into gas by being heated underground. The gas would be brought to the surface, turned into liquid at a huge processing plant, and the liquid would be piped to Darwin or Adelaide.

Central said the first stage of the project would cost $7.5 billion.

The fuel would be cleaner and cheaper than conventional oil and gas - diesel would be 40 per cent less - and the energy source would last 200 years.

Construction would require a peak of 3000 workers and the operation would require the construction of a small town.

Central has spent about $100 million on exploration in the past 14 years."

RAVI