DrillingUpdate Offshore China

Roc Oil Company Limited
23 January 2008


23 January 2008

                         ROC OIL COMPANY LIMITED ('ROC')
                             STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE

                 DRILLING UPDATE: WEI 6-12W-1 EXPLORATION WELL,
                          BLOCK 22/12, OFFSHORE CHINA


Roc Oil (China) Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of ROC, advises that since
its last Stock Exchange release on 16 January 2008, the Wei 6-12W-1 exploration
well in Block 22/12 in the Beibu Gulf, offshore China, has set 9-5/8 inch casing
at 1,837 mBRT. As at 0600 hours (local time) the current operation was drilling
ahead at 2,106 mBRT towards a prognosed Total Depth of 2,425 mBRT.

The Wei 6-12W-1 well, located in 30 metres of water, is being drilled by the
Premium 'Murmanskaya' jack-up drilling rig approximately 2.5 kilometres
northwest of the Wei 6-12S-1 oil discovery.

Participating Interests in the Block 22/12 Joint Venture are:

Roc Oil (China) Company................................ 40% (Operator)
Horizon Oil Limited........................................... 30%
Petsec Petroleum*........................................... 25%
Oil Australia Pty Ltd**......................................... 5%

The above interests are subject to Government participation in developments of
up to 51%
*A subsidiary of Petsec Energy Ltd **A subsidiary of First Australian Resources


In accordance with ASX and AIM Rules, the information in this Release has been
reviewed and approved by Dr John Doran, Chief Executive Officer, Roc Oil Company
Limited, BSc (Hons) Geology, MSc and PhD. Dr Doran, who is a member of the
Society of Petroleum Engineers, has more than 30 years relevant experience
within the industry and consents to the information in the form and context in
which it appears.



Damian Fisher
General Manager
External Affairs & Investor Relations
For further information please contact:

                                                                Dr John Doran on
                                                            Tel: [phone]
                                                            Fax: [phone]
                                                     Email: [e-mail]
                                       Or visit ROC's website: www.rocoil.com.au
                                                                                
                                                                   Dr Kevin Hird
                                          General Manager - Business Development
                                     Tel: [phone]
                                     Mob: [phone]
                                                     Email:  [e-mail]
                                                                                
                                                                    Michael Shaw
                                    Oriel Securities Limited (Nominated Adviser)
                                                       Tel:  [phone]
                                                                                
                                                                     Bobby Morse
                                                         Buchanan Communications
                                                       Tel: + 44 (0)20 7466 5000
                                                       Fax: + 44 (0)20 7466 5001
                                                  E-Mail: [e-mail]
                                                        Mob: [phone]
                                                                                


                      This information is provided by RNS
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