Matrix Oil to drill new wells in N. Sumatra by year-end

Australian listed oil and gas firm Matrix Oil NL on Tuesday announced plans to drill up to two new wells before year-end, aimed at substantially increasing reserves in its highly prospective Asahan production sharing contract (PSC) and Glagah-Kambuna technical assistance contract (TAC) areas in the Malacca Straits, offshore North Sumatra.

The company?s technical director Phil Davies believed that field sizes of 200-400mmb of oil and 1-2 TCF of gas are possible.

"One of the reasons we are excited about this area is that, for the first time, we have been able to integrate the seismic work of both the Glagah/Kambuna and larger Asahan contract areas,? he said.

To date, a total of 28 prospects have been identified in the combined contract areas.

The Asahan PSC is situated in shallow waters off Northern Sumatra .

The Company's joint venture partners in the project are Enserch Exploration Limited of Houston, Texas (15 percent) and PT Risjad Salim Resources of Indonesia (10 percent).

In Glagah/Kambuna TAC, matrix holds 90 percent interest

The Glagah/Kambuna TAC covers an area of 350 square kilometres and is located in shallow waters just 40 kilometers north-east of Pertamina's main producing areas in North Sumatra.

Earlier, Matrix also announced that it was on schedule to start production of approximately 10,000 barrels of oil per day in November this year, from its Langsa offshore contract area in the North Sumatran Basin. (alex)