summary of oil barrel preso

All,

Although dated 12th March this appears to have only just gone on the Oil Barrel website - a good concise summary for those new to the case....

Regards

Pihrana.

March 12, 2010

Conference Report 1: New Guinea Energy And Dominion Petroleum Offer Wildcat Excitement In Far-Flung Frontiers While Xcite Energy Targets Heavy Barrels Closer To Home


By Amy McLellan



Oilbarrel.coms 32nd conference started not with a bang but a cloud of smoke as a fire on the City limits, from which oilbarrels HQ was not immune, sent smoke drifting across the Square Mile. Still oilbarrel.com delegates are a hardy lot: they coughed their way through the smoky streets to hear presentations from six very different companies, with stories that ranged from wildcatting in the foothills of Papua New Guinea to the more prosaic business of pumping oil near Scunthorpe.

First to Papua New Guinea, where ASX-listed New Guinea Energy has assembled an impressive footprint spanning some 53,000 sq km in an area that has seen something of a land grab over the last year. The company, which has a market cap of A$116.5 million, has not been immune from this black gold rush, agreeing in September 2009 some favourable farm-out terms with Talisman Energy for two of its six licences in the country. This was important for two reasons: first, it will accelerate seismic and drilling activities on licences PPL 268 and 269 as the Canadian group firm has committed to spent over US$100 million over the next two years; second, it provides third-party endorsement of its licences from a player that has been at the forefront of 2009s land grab.

Executive chairman Michael Arnett described how Calgary-headquartered Talisman had stitched together a serious acreage position in the western province of Papua New Guinea over the course of last year through a series of acquisitions (it bought AIMs Rift Oil for US$187 million in June and Papua Petroleum Limited in November), corporate deals (it bought 50 per cent of Horizon Oils PRL 4 and 5 licences in September 2009) and farm-ins (the New Guinea Energy deal). Papua New Guinea is now Talismans largest exploration expenditure with the company planning to drill more than 12 wells and likely close to 20 wells over the next two years, said Arnett. This indicates the impact of the companys entrance as Oil Search, which has been established here for 75 years, is only planning to drill four wells in 2010.

Talisman will certainly put some firepower behind New Guinea Energy, unleashing an US$11 million seismic programme and a possible US$90 million six well programme to earn up to 70 per cent of PPL 268 and PPL 269. There is certainly enough scope on these licences to keep the Canadian group interested with PPL 269 home to five mapped prospects and 34 identified leads, with both oil and wet gas potential, and the under-explored PPL 268 block showing what technical director Dan Kendrick called trendology, ie its on trend with Rift Oils (and now Talismans) Puk Puk and Douglas gas discoveries. The first Talisman wells are expected to spud in Q4 2010.

New Guinea Energy is seeking farm-in partners for the rest of its acreage, which it currently holds 100 per cent. But it isnt letting this search hold it back: the ASX company, which has A$20 million in cash, plans to drill a well on its own account on PPL 267 on the Gulf of Papua, which is home to the Panakawa structure. This is known to hold oil as its seeps 35-degree API oil to the surface at a rate of five barrels per day. The company plans to drill what could be a 187 million barrel prospect next month, which should deliver some near-terms newsflow ahead of the first Talisman wells at the back end of the year.