18 July June 2011TO: The Manager, Company Announcements ASX...

18 July June 2011
TO: The Manager, Company Announcements ASX Limited
CONTACT: John Heugh +61 8 9474 1444
NEW FRACTURED BASEMENT PLAY AND 2011 DRILLING UPDATE
Central Petroleum Limited (ASX:CTP) (?Central? or the ?Company?) has pleasure in releasing a Technical Note by Greg Ambrose, Manager Geology, and John Heugh, Managing Director, ?Fractured Basement Hydrocarbon Plays and ?Buried Hill? Plays in Central Australia? (CTP Technical Note 11.07.15). The report concludes, inter alia, that :

Hydrocarbon production from fractured crystalline basement terranes occur on a global scale with production in 30 countries; Vietnam, Russia and Argentina are noteable examples, particularly the Cu Long Basin White Tiger and Bach Ho fields, with combined production reaching in excess of 40,000 BOPD.

These plays are completely unexplored in Central Australia despite favourable geological criteria in several basins and numerous examples from many basins around the globe.

CTP?s holdings in the Amadeus, Georgina and Pedirka basins include specific areas where structurally deformed crystalline basement terranes have potential to reservoir hydrocarbons generated from known source sequences in close vertical proximity to basement.

The Mirrica Prospect in the Southern Georgina Basin is a large fault dependent closure mapped at basement and higher levels against the Toomba Fault updip of the Toko Syncline. The UGIIP (Undiscovered Gas Initially In Place) at Middle Cambrian levels may exceed 4 TCFG if the structure is filled to spill. (ie ?high? estimate). Mirrica-1 intersected partly weathered granitic basement within closure but little is known of this secondary target. Higher in the section, brittle carbonates of the Thorntonia Limestone are blanketed by regionally developed shales of the lower Arthur Creek Formation (source and seal) and these constitute a regional fracture play.
?The fractured basement play type development may produce some exciting exploration targets in subsequent campaigns? said Mr Heugh, Central?s Managing Director today. ?Meanwhile Central is pushing ahead with expediting planning for its second half of the year drilling programme.?

The Company has secured casing supplies for the 3 well programme and is well advanced with other hardware supplies, road maintenance to allow easy access for the drilling rig and evaluation and selection of service contractors.
The Company anticipates making a final rig selection within a fortnight via a Letter of Intent process leading to a more detailed contract with a view to re-entering Surprise late August or early September, which is aimed to enable the drilling to Total Depth of all three programmed prospects, Surprise-1, Madigan and Mt Kitty, before the wet season usually commences.
John Heugh