Premier Oil finds Gas in Natuna

Premier Oil Plc. said on Wednesday that it had found gas reserves in the Arang formation close to Premier's West Natuna Gas project, in Riau.

Premier-operated Gajah Baru-1 discovery well has proven gas columns in eight separate reservoir sands. The well flowed 40 mmscfd during testing with the maximum rate constrained by surface equipment limitations.

High quality gas samples, similar to those in surrounding discoveries, were recovered from the flow tests and wire line sampling. Certification of the discovered reserves is under way.

Following on from the gas discoveries Naga-1 and Iguana-1 and the Ande Ande Lumut-1 oil discovery, Gajah Baru is the fourth successful well drilled by Premier in the West Natuna area this year.

Gajah Baru-1 was drilled to 5,290 feet with the Trident 17 jack-up rig using a slim hole well design which allowed Premier to significantly reduce drilling costs. The rig will now be moved northwards in Natuna Sea block A to drill exploration prospect Betet-1 adjacent to the Ande Ande Lumut discovery.

A number of options are being reviewed for the sale of the newly discovered gas, either through the West Natuna pipeline to Singapore, which runs directly over the Gajah Baru field, or to the Malaysian Duyong platform approximately 35km to the west.

Premier also reported that the company and its co-venturers in UK block 22/2a have reached agreement with Brovig Production Services Ltd (BPS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Brovig Offshore ASA of Norway, for the provision of services for the development and production of the Chestnut Field, the United Kingdom.

Premier Oil's CEO Charles Jamieson said: "The agreement to develop the Chestnut field and our four exploration discoveries out of four wells drilled in Indonesia demonstrates the significant operational progress Premier has made this year." (*)