re: stuart strikes oil- first exploration well 05/ 7 November...

re: stuart strikes oil- first exploration well 05/ 7 November 2005
Stuart Strikes Oil with the First Exploration Well in 2005/06 Campaign
South Australian oil company Stuart Petroleum today announced that the Padulla # 2
exploration well has discovered a new oil pool in the Murta formation on the Dirkala
Ridge. The 100% owned well in Stuart’s Southern Cooper Basin PEL 113 acreage
produced 21 barrels of light sweet crude in a Drill Stem Test conducted Friday.
“This result is most pleasing at many levels,” Stuart Petroleum Managing Director, Mr
Tino Guglielmo, said today. “It will have a material impact on Stuart’s business, it has
validated the geological model and enhanced the prospectively of the Stuart-owned
acreage in the Padulla area.”
The full significance of the Padulla discovery is now under evaluation, however the field
is likely to contain between 850,000 (P50) to 3.4 million (P10) barrels of oil in place.
Crude oil reserves are expected to be between 30% and 40% of the oil in place. It is
Stuart’s sixth Cooper Basin oil discovery since the company’s inception just four years
ago. The field also holds significant development potential with additional drilling to be
undertaken in early 2006.
“This discovery now opens up an exciting Murta exploration play around the entire
Dunoon Trough between the Harpoono oil field and Padulla. Ultimately, this area will
add significantly to Stuart’s reserve base,” Mr Guglielmo said. “We have always rated
highly this part of PEL113, which also hosts our Harpoono and Derilyn oil fields.”
Padulla is now likely to be brought onto production via an extended production test
following completion and fracture stimulation prior to Christmas. Padulla was a
relatively inexpensive shallow well and the field could be producing revenue for Stuart
as early as next month. “The beauty of owning 100% of the well is you get 100% of the
reserve additions and revenue from the discovery of this new field.” Mr Guglielmo said.
Oil from Padulla is likely to be trucked to the Moomba processing facility. “It is too early
to accurately predict flow rates from this new field, however, the well is likely to produce
between 100 and 200 barrels a day on pump going forward,” Mr Guglielmo said.