Sydney, Sept 23, 2008 (ABN Newswire) - Mosaic Oil NL (ASX:MOS)(PINK:MSAOF) is pleased to advise that the Company has been successful in a joint bid with L&M Petroleum (ASX: LMP) in being awarded Permit PEP 51151 onshore Taranaki Basin, New Zealand. LMP will be operator for the joint venture, and both Mosaic Oil and LMP will each hold a 50 percent interest in the permit.
- Permit adjacent to established production (Rimu, Kauri and Manutahi fields)
- Confirms strategy to establish another core project area for the Company
The 457.8 sq. km. permit contains a number of previously identified oil and gas leads and is contiguous to the Origin-operated Kauri/Rimu oil and gas-condensate fields and the shallow Manutahi oil field which have produced over 1.2 million barrels of oil and 15 BCF of gas since 1999. Gas from these fields is processed at the Rimu Production Station and piped into the national high-pressure transmission reticulation system. Oil is trucked and piped to the oil export facility at Port Taranaki in New Plymouth.
Mosaic Oil Managing Director Lan Nguyen said: "The entry into New Zealand is consistent with the Company's stated strategy of establishing another core project area. This newly acquired permit provides Mosaic Oil with prospective acreage on an established oil and gas producing trend in New Zealand's sole hydrocarbon producing basin. PEP 51151 provides potential for both shallow oil plays with a short term development time frame in the event of success and deeper gas-condensate plays with a longer term exploration and development time line and as such, provides Mosaic with a good base for building a possible longer term project area with considerable upside potential within New Zealand".
The joint venture will begin by undertaking analysis of the existing geological data over the permit and acquire and interpret new seismic data to confirm drilling targets with a view to drilling the first exploration well within two to three years.
L&M Petroleum Limited, Operator for the joint venture, is dual listed on the ASX and NZX, and is the Operator for all seven of its New Zealand exploration joint ventures.
About MOSAIC OIL NL
Mosaic Oil N.L. (ASX: MOS) is a successful junior Australian explorer and producer of oil and gas. The Company's principal producing assets are based in the highly prospective proven producing Surat and Bowen basins of southeast Queensland. Mosaic's focus on Queensland now involves accelerated evaluation of the Company's extensive exploration and production acreage, ongoing development of new commercial petroleum plays and discoveries similar to the basin-centred hydrocarbon plays in the Canadian Deep Basin of Alberta and American Rocky Mountain area of Wyoming, and greater use of the Company's own extensive production infrastructure.
Contact
Mosaic Oil: Lan Nguyen Managing Director Tel: +61-2-9247-9324
Media: Bill Kemmery Fortbridge Tel: +61-2-9331-0655 Mob: +61-400-122-449
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