Rodinia Oil Corp. says that its Australian subsidiary, Officer Basin Energy Pty. Ltd., has executed an agreement with Ensign Australia Pty. Limited (Ensign) to engage Ensign's Rig 16 to carry out its initial six well drilling program. Rodinia's drilling program will initially test six separate large structural targets in the Officer Basin in South Australia. Rodinia's contract with Ensign includes four firm wells with the option to extend the contract to drill four additional wells (eight total) with Rig 16 as part of this program. Rodinia expects drilling to begin in February 2011.

"We are thrilled to have secured Ensign's Rig 16 for our drilling program and look forward to working with Ensign as we continue to explore this world-class onshore play," said Paul Bennett, CEO of Rodinia. "The contracting of this rig puts us one step closer to evaluating the immense hydrocarbon potential of the Officer Basin. Of all the rigs currently working in Australia, Ensign's Rig 16 best suits our technical requirements for drilling in the Officer Basin."

Rodinia plans on initially drilling six wells to an average depth of 3,000 meters in Petroleum Exploration Licenses 81 and 253 in the Officer Basin in South Australia. These wells will test prospects identified in Rodinia's Phase I and Phase II seismic programs acquired between 2007 and 2009. The un-risked, undiscovered prospective oil resource recoverable from these prospects ranges from 775 - 12,376 million barrels according to independent reserve evaluation firm, Ryder Scott Company (December 31, 2009). These prospects occur in an area that appears mature for oil as opposed to natural gas

Tags: Rodinia Oil Corp.