Mauritania Exercises Rights

Roc Oil Company Limited
16 November 2004




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

                     MAURITANIAN GOVERNMENT EXERCISES RIGHT
                   TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CHINGUETTI OIL FIELD

ROC 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 that the Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania has
exercised its right to participate in the Chinguetti Oil Field development,
offshore Mauritania.

The Government's participation will comprise a 12% equity position in the
Exploitation Perimeter which was granted in May 2004 under the terms of the
Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for Area B, via an Exclusive Exploitation
Authorisation (EEA). The Exploitation Perimeter was granted over an area
including the Chinguetti Oil Field. The effective date of the Government's
participation is 9 November 2004.

The interests of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania in the
Chinguetti Oil Field will be represented by the Groupe Projet Chinguetti (GPC),
an entity set up by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania for
this purpose.

The right to participate and the terms of the Government's participation,
including the payment of ongoing costs from the effective date to participation
and reimbursement of past costs, are defined in the PSC for Area B. The specific
terms of the PSC are confidential.

This election to participate is limited to the area of the current Exploitation
Perimeter, and does not include the rest of PSC B. The Government has a similar
right to participation in each new development in the PSC.

Participating Interests in PSC B, and participating interests (rounded to the
nearest 3 decimal places) in the Chinguetti Exploitation Perimeter following
Government participation are:

   +--------------------------------------+-----------+-------------+------+
   |               Company                |   PSC-B   | Chinguetti  |      |
   |                                      |           |Exploitation |      |
   |                                      |           |  Perimeter  |      |
   +--------------------------------------+-----------+-------------+------+
   |Woodside group companies (Operator)   |  53.846%  |   47.384%   |      |
   +--------------------------------------+-----------+-------------+------+
   |Hardman group companies               |   21.6%   |   19.008%   |      |
   +--------------------------------------+-----------+-------------+------+
   |BG group companies                    |  11.63%   |   10.234%   |      |
   +--------------------------------------+-----------+-------------+------+
   |Premier group companies               |  9.231%   |   8.123%    |      |
   +--------------------------------------+-----------+-------------+------+
   |Roc Oil group companies               |  3.693%   |   3.250%    |      |
   +--------------------------------------+-----------+-------------+------+
   |Groupe Projet Chinguetti              |    --     |   12.000%   |'     |
   +--------------------------------------+-----------+-------------+------+

Bruce Clement                             or 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


                                                                   Dr Kevin Hird
                                            General Manager Business Development
                                                        Tel: [phone]
                                                        Fax: [phone]
                                                      Email: [e-mail]

                                                Ann-Marie Wilkinson/Nick Lambert
                                            Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial
                                                       Tel: [phone]




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