Anzon Australia Pty Limited (AZA), a wholly owned subsidiary of ROC, advised that the Ocean Patriot rig has commenced the 2009 drilling program for the BMG Project.

Drilling operations on the Basker-5 (B5) well workover began on Jun. 15. The B5 workover is planned to isolate water production from several reservoir zones and to improve BMG production capacity by approximately 800 BOPD (AZA: 240 BOPD).

The Basker-3 (B3) workover will follow the B5 workover. The B3 workover is planned as a multi-zone well recompletion and is targeted at improving BMG production capacity by approximately 2,000 BOPD (AZA: 600 BOPD).

The BMG Joint Venture is also planning to drill the Basker-7 (B7) development well following the completion of the B3 workover. B7 is an oil development well designed to selectively produce from a number of stacked intra-Latrobe reservoirs in the Basker field. B7 will also have considerable gas management utility, including production and reinjection capabilities. Oil production capacity from B7 is anticipated to be approximately 3,000 BOPD (AZA: 900 BOPD).

ROC's Chief Executive Officer, Bruce Clement, stated, "Commencement of the 2009 BMG drilling program is an important step in the BMG project. The B3 and B5 workovers and the new B7 well are targeted at further developing and exploiting the project’s oil reserves by providing an immediate increase in oil production and improved flexibility in reservoir management.

"Importantly, the workovers and the B7 well will provide additional valuable reservoir and production data for the planning of future development activities for both the current Phase 1 Oil Project and the future Phase 2 Gas Project."

Tags: ROC Oil