PEARL secures Transocean rig for Sebuku PSC

Singapore-based oil firm PEARL Energy Limited said Friday it had secured, in alliance with Chevron Indonesia Company, the jack-up rig, Shelf Explorer, from PT. TransOcean Indonesia for a three-well exploration and appraisal drilling program on the Sebuku Production Sharing Contract (PSC) in the Makassar Straits to the east of Kalimantan.

PEARL said the 75-day program to drill one appraisal well and two exploration wells would commence in late December 2005 or early January 2006. Once the program is completed, the rig will be released to Chevron.

?This drilling program is a critical step on the route to both commercialising our contingent gas resources in the Makassar Straits gas field and to assessing the potential of two other exploration prospects in the block. Given the tight availability of rigs for the time being, we are delighted to have secured the Shelf Explorer and to be able to press ahead with our plans for Sebuku, which is a key asset in our portfolio,? said Chris Gibson-Robinson, PEARL?s Chief Technical Officer, in a statement.

The Sebuku PSC covers an area of approximately 8,773 sq km. PEARL agreed in September to farmout a 50 percent working interest in the Sebuku PSC to Fuel-X Sebuku Limited, which will bear the cost of drilling the three wells, up to a maximum amount of US$12 million.

Under the terms of the transaction, PEARL?s effective interest in the Sebuku PSC was reduced to 50 percent from 100 percent although PEARL remains as operator of the Sebuku PSC. (Robert)