Drilling Report

Sterling Energy PLC
22 February 2005


Sterling Energy plc
22 February 2005



                             Sterling Energy plc (SEY)
                              STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE

                      MAURITANIA OFFSHORE DRILLING UPDATE

Sterling Energy plc advises that the following release was made earlier today by Woodside Petroleum Limited:

'Woodside Mauritania Pty Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Woodside Petroleum Ltd., reports the following activity 
offshore Mauritania since the last report issued on 15 February 2005.

                                 PSC-B, Block 4
                    Tiof-6 and Chinguetti Development wells

Tiof-6 Appraisal well The 'West Navigator' drillship successfully completed production testing of the Tiof-6 appraisal 
well. As previously reported, the well produced oil during the main flow period of the test at a stable rate of 
approximately 9,150 barrels per day, constrained by a 72/64 inch choke.

At midnight on 21 February 2005, the 'West Navigator' was suspending the well as a potential future oil production well 
prior to resuming operations on
Chinguetti Development wells.

Chinguetti Development wells#

The 'Stena Tay' drill rig continued operations on Chinguetti Development wells. Woodside does not plan to issue 
announcements regarding operations on Chinguetti development wells, but will do so if necessary to comply with its 
continuous disclosure obligations under the ASX Listing Rules.

All reported drilling depths are referenced to the rig rotary table and all times are Universal Time (UTC) (Mauritanian 
time).

The locations of the Chinguetti Oil Field, the Tiof and Banda discoveries and exploration wells are shown on the 
attached map*.

Wells are expected to be drilled in two production sharing contract areas during the remainder of the 2005 campaign.'

Participating Interests in the areas are:

          +-----------------------------------+-----------+----------+
          |              Company              |   PSC-A   |  PSC-B   |
          +-----------------------------------+-----------+----------+
          |Woodside group companies (Operator)|  53.846%  | 53.846%  |
          +-----------------------------------+-----------+----------+
          |Hardman group companies            |   24.3%   |  21.6%   |
          +-----------------------------------+-----------+----------+
          |BG group companies                 |  13.084%  |  11.63%  |
          +-----------------------------------+-----------+----------+
          |Premier group companies            |    --     |  9.231%  |
          +-----------------------------------+-----------+----------+
          |Fusion group companies             |  4. 615%  |    --    |
          +-----------------------------------+-----------+----------+
          |Roc Oil group companies            |  4.155%   |  3.693%  |
          +-----------------------------------+-----------+----------+



                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange