Tórshavn, Faroe Islands 10th September 2007 - Atlantic Petroleum (OMX: FO-ATLA), the international upstream oil and gas company, announces that Atlantic Petroleum and the SEL 2/07 partners have encountered significant hydrocarbons in the 50/11-3 Hook Head appraisal well and are preparing to commence a well flow test. The Providence Resources Plc operated 50/11-3 Hook Head appraisal well, offshore Ireland, has successfully logged a total of 75 feet of net hydrocarbon bearing reservoir. The well is located in 240 feet water depth, is c. 60 km offshore Waterford and is situated in Standard Exploration Licence 2/07 in the North Celtic Sea Basin. The well was drilled to a total depth of 4,880 feet true vertical depth subsea. All geological horizons were encountered within the pre-drill depth prognosis and significant oil and gas shows characteristic of either a light oil or rich gas were encountered whilst drilling. Preliminary petrophysical analysis of electric wireline logs acquired over the main Lower Cretaceous target indicates a 484 foot gross hydrocarbon bearing interval. The reservoir zones are of equivalent age to those encountered in the 50/11-1 & 2 wells, located c. 2.5 km and c. 5 km to the south-west, respectively. Initial analysis of the data suggests an overall improvement in reservoir quality at the 50/11-3 location, with average porosities of 20% within the main hydrocarbon bearing interval. In addition to the successful appraisal of the accumulation, a number of further exploration objectives were also logged as hydrocarbon bearing in the well. The plan is now to set a string of casing prior to flow testing the well. Upon completion of drilling operations, the revised equity ownership in the Hook Head discovery is Providence Resources Plc (Operator) 43.5294%, Challenger Minerals (Celtic Sea) Limited 16.3235%, Dyas BV 16.3235%, Atlantic Petroleum (Ireland) Limited 10.8824%, Forest Gate Resources Inc. 7.5%, Sosina Exploration Limited 5.4412%. These revisions are subject to Ministerial approval. Commenting on the initial well results Wilhelm Petersen, Managing Director of P/F Atlantic Petroleum said: “Atlantic Petroleum is extremely pleased with the results of the Hook Head appraisal well to date and look forward to the forthcoming well test operations.” About Hook Head The Hook Head structure is a large anticline that was first drilled in 1971 by Marathon. The IRL 50/11-1 well discovered hydrocarbons in five sandstone units within the Lower Cretaceous. The well was not flow-tested due to severe operational issues at the time. The IRL 50/11-2 appraisal well, drilled by Marathon in 1975, was a delineation well at the down-dip edge of the structure. Post-drill mapping by Marathon indicated that the crest of the structure is located to the north-east of the IRL 50/11-1 discovery well. This mapping is supported by the seismic data acquired by Providence and partners in 2006. The IRL 50/11-3 appraisal well was drilled in a crestal location, some 2.5 km northeast of the IRL 50/11-1 well. The operators pre-drill in-house volumetric estimates suggested that the Hook Head discovery could contain prospective resources of up to c.70 MMBO or 250 BSCFG REC Further Details Further details can be obtained from Wilhelm Petersen, Managing Director, tel +298 350 100 (wilhelmp@petroleum.fo) or Teitur Samuelsen, Financial Manager, tel +298 350 100 (teiturs@petroleum.fo). This announcement will be available, together with other information about Atlantic Petroleum, on the Company's website: www.petroleum.fo.
- Significant hydrocarbons encountered in Hook Head appraisal well in the Celtic Sea, Ireland
| Source: Atlantic Petroleum P/F