Successful Yemen Well Test
Soco International PLC
28 June 2005
SOCO International plc
('SOCO' or 'the Company')
Successful Testing of Well KHA - 405, Yemen
SOCO is an international oil and gas exploration and production company,
headquartered in London traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of
the FTSE 250 Index. The Company has continuing interests in Vietnam, Yemen,
Mongolia, Libya and Thailand with ongoing production operations in Yemen and
Mongolia. SOCO's transaction to dispose of its Mongolian operations is pending
completion after gaining approval from its shareholders at an EGM on 10 May
2005.
The Company's majority owned subsidiary, Comeco Petroleum, Inc. ('Comeco'),
through which the Company holds a 16.785% net working interest in the East
Shabwa Development Area in Yemen ('ESDA'), announces the successful production
test of the KHA-405. The well was drilled as part of the continuing appraisal
and development of the Basement reservoir in the Kharir Field.
The KHA-405 spudded on 28th March 2005 and reached a total depth of 3,755
metres. The objectives of the well were to delineate the Basement and evaluate
reservoir development in the eastern extension of the structure as currently
mapped. KHA-405 produced over 7,300 barrels of oil per day ('BOPD') when tested
against a 58/64 inch choke. Production was limited by capacity limitations of
the Kharir's main production facilities. This marks the fourth consecutive
success of the five wells drilled thus far in the programme initiated in August
2004 to evaluate the Basement reservoir in the Kharir Field.
The sixth Basement well in the current ESDA drilling programme, the KHA-406,
spudded on 11th June 2005 and is designed to be a water injection well.
Drilling of the KHA-405 is part of the consortium's three part programme for the
year to appraise the Kharir Basement structure, increase reserves through
exploration and increase production from the 29,000 BOPD level at the end of
2004.
Ed Story commented:
'The Basement potential in the Kharir Field in the East Shabwa Development Area
in Yemen continues to grow. With this demonstrated success, the consortium now
expects to test the exploration potential elsewhere on the Block and to increase
its production and export capabilities'
28 JUNE 2005
ENQUIRIES:
SOCO International plc Tel: 020 7747 2000
Roger Cagle, Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer
Pelham Public Relations
James Henderson Tel: 020 7743 6673
Charles Vivian Tel: 020 7743 6672
Notes to Editors
Comeco, in which SOCO holds a 58.75% interest, has a 28.57% interest in the ESDA
in Block 10 in Yemen. The East Shabwa joint venture is operated by TOTAL E & P
Yemen (28.57% interest) under a production sharing agreement with the government
of Yemen. The other joint venture partners are Occidental Yemen Ltd. (28.57%
interest) and Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co. (14.29% interest).
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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