Heritage Oil Limited, an independent upstream exploration and production company, has contracted Great Wall Drilling Company Ltd. to supply a rig to drill the Miran West-1 exploration well in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Highlights

• Rig secured to commence drilling the Miran West-1 exploration well
• First ever well to be drilled on the Miran licence in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq
• Rig is currently in-country, and the well is expected to spud before the year-end
• High-impact exploration as the potential for billions of barrels of oil exists in the licence

Heritage has entered into an agreement with Great Wall Drilling Company Ltd. to use the GW Rig No.10. It is planned that the rig will drill to an anticipated depth of over 3,000 metres and target the three principal reservoirs known from the immediate area to be the most productive.

Drilling of the well is expected to commence before the year-end as the rig is already in-country and site preparation is underway.

The Miran licence contains two large structures, Miran West and Miran East, that have been mapped from the 332 kilometres of excellent quality seismic data acquired by Heritage between April and June 2008. These two very large anticlines have the potential to contain billions of barrels of oil.

Tony Buckingham, Chief Executive Officer, commented, "The Miran work programme has been accelerated following the interpretation of the seismic acquired in the second quarter of 2008.

Contracting this rig and our plan to commence drilling before the year-end shows the significant progress we have made this year as well as our commitment to the region. We were one of the first companies to be awarded a licence in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and first-mover advantage has allowed us to select one of the most prospective licences. This is therefore a very exciting time for Heritage because of the billion barrel hydrocarbon potential of the prospects on the Miran block."

Heritage Energy Middle East, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Heritage, is operator and holds a 100% interest in the Miran licence. The Miran licence has an area of 1,015 square kilometres and is located west of the city of Suleimaniah.

Tags: Heritage Oil Limited