Rocksource announces drilling rig and estimated spud date for PL 530

Rocksource ASA ("Rocksource" or "company", OSE: RGT) today announces that GDF SUEZ E&P Norge AS, the operator of PL 530, has agreed a rig contract for the Aker Barents to drill the first exploration well on the block. The sanctioned well is estimated to spud in September 2011.

Rocksource independently estimates the primary target at the "Heilo" prospect to contain mean recoverable resources amounting to 200 million barrels of oil equivalents (in the oil case). Rocksource estimates the chance of success to be in excess of 50 per cent. Both risk and volumetric estimates have been high-graded based upon additional information provided by the integrated EM data evaluation.

Chief Operating Officer, Gregor Maxwell comments: “This is yet another milestone in securing a firm drilling program for Rocksource. Over the last years Rocksource has tested over 100 prospects with EM technology, and have concluded positively on approximately 20 of these. This is the sub-set that is matured towards drilling, and Rocksource aims to drill 4-5 wells per year going forward. Although developments in the Gulf of Mexico have delayed activity in that part of the portfolio, we are very pleased to see that the NCS portfolio is firming up a high-impact drilling campaign for 2011.”

The PL 530 license is located in the Barents Sea on the very southern part of the Bjarmeland Platform/eastern edge of the Hammerfest Basin on trend with the Goliat and Tornerose discoveries to the west and the Nucula discovery to the southeast. Several prospects and leads have been identified within the license, with prospectivity present at multiple reservoir levels. After processing of the EM data Rocksource has concluded that a resistivity anomaly is associated with the main prospect (Heilo) which was tested by the CSEM survey, and the observed anomaly is likely to be caused by hydrocarbons.

The PL 530 partnership consists of GDF SUEZ E&P Norge AS (Operator, 40 per cent), Front Exploration AS (20 per cent), North Energy ASA (20 per cent) and Rocksource ASA (20 per cent).

 
Oslo, 14.9.2010
Rocksource ASA

Trygve Pedersen
CEO

+47 90 09 77 41