Mauritania Drilling Update

Roc Oil Company Limited
21 September 2004


21 September 2004


ROC OIL COMPANY LIMITED ('ROC')


STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE



MAURITANIA OFFSHORE DRILLING UPDATE


ROC reports the following activity offshore Mauritania since the last report
issued on 14 September 2004.

PSC-C2 - Dorade-1 Exploration Well
The drill rig 'West Navigator' temporarily suspended the Dorade-1 exploration
well in PSC-C2 after finishing drilling the top hole section and setting casing
to a depth of 2347 metres. The bottom hole section, containing the primary
interval in the well, is expected to be drilled later by the 'Stena Tay'.

PSC-B - Capitaine-1 Exploration Well, Tevet-1 Exploration Well and arrival
of 'Stena Tay'

Capitaine-1

The Capitaine-1 exploration well was spudded on 16 September 2004 in 1681 metres
of water. The top hole section was drilled and 13 3/8 inch casing was run to
2,585 metres depth where the casing became stuck. The casing was cemented at
this depth but the operational problems have resulted in the top hole being
abandoned and the drilling rig, 'West Navigator', moved off location on
September 19. The well will be re-drilled in the near future.

Tevet-1

The drill rig 'West Navigator' commenced drilling the top hole section of the
Tevet-1 exploration well in 489 metres of water on 20 September. At 0000hrs UTC
on 21 September, the well was drilling ahead in 17-1/2 inch hole at a depth of
633 metres.

Arrival of 'Stena Tay'

The second drill rig to be used in the current Mauritania offshore drilling
campaign, the 'Stena Tay', arrived offshore Mauritania on 14 September 2004 and
spudded the Chinguetti-8 development well on 15 September. ROC does not plan to
issue further announcements regarding drilling operations on Chinguetti
production wells, but will make additional announcements if required 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 to be drilled early in the 2004-05 drilling campaign are shown
attached to the copy of this release on ROC's website.

Wells are expected to be drilled in three production sharing contract areas
during the campaign. Participating Interests in those areas are:

   +-------------------------------------+-----------+----------+----------+
   |               Company               |   PSC-A   |  PSC-B   |  PSC-C2  |
   +-------------------------------------+-----------+----------+----------+
   |Woodside group companies (operator)  |  53.846%  | 53.846%  |   48%    |
   +-------------------------------------+-----------+----------+----------+
   |Hardman group companies              |   24.3%   |  21.6%   |  28.8%   |
   +-------------------------------------+-----------+----------+----------+
   |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%  |   3.2%   |
   +-------------------------------------+-----------+----------+----------+
   |Energy Africa                        |    --     |    --    |   20%    |
   +-------------------------------------+-----------+----------+----------+


Bruce Clement                           For further information please contact:
Chief Operating Officer                                        Dr John Doran on
                                                           Tel: [phone]
                                                           Fax: [phone]
                                                   E-mail: [e-mail]
                                                        Or visit ROC's website:
                                                              www.rocoil.com.au

                                  



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