Oseil oil field temporarily shutdown on leakage

Oil wells at Oseil oil field in Maluku's Seram Island have been shut down due to a leak in oil tank, with a downtime for temporary repairing expected to be completed in 3-4 weeks from date of shutdown.

?Provided the temporary repairs can be effected within the time estimate of 3-4 weeks, the company does not envisage significant impact on crude oil production forecast for 2004,? Lion Energy Ltd. said in a statement sent to the Australian Stock Exchange on Monday.

Lion has a 2.5 percent working interest in Seram Non-Bula PSC, where Oseil field is located. Kuwaiti?s Kufpec is the block operator with a 97.5 percent working interest.

Crude oil production for the month of February 2004 was 104,313 barrels compared to 98,555 barrels in January, with an average of 3,597 barrels of oil per day. Cumulative production from Oseil to 29th Feb 2004 is 1,585,146 barrels of oil.

Lion earlier said Oseil production is expected to be approximately 8,000 BOPD, ramping up to 18,000 BPD by the end of this year with the streaming of new development wells.

Permanent repair of the damage would likely be carried out during a planned plant shutdown scheduled later in the year, Lion said.(Alex)