HOUSTON, Dec. 20, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Coastal Energy Company (the "Company" or "Coastal Energy") (TSX:CEN) (AIM:CEO), an independent exploration and production company with assets in Thailand, announces the successful results of the Bua Ban North B-09 well.
The Bua Ban North B-09 was drilled as an appraisal well between the southernmost Bua Ban North B-04 well and the Bua Ban North A-09 well. The well was drilled to a depth of 5,200 feet TVD and encountered five Miocene pay zones. Total aggregate net pay in the well is 175 feet with average porosity of 27%. Pay was encountered in the M75 zone for the first time, which represents a new productive zone for the field.
Randy Bartley, President and CEO of Coastal Energy, commented:
"The Bua Ban North B-09 well encountered the largest pay zone we have seen to date in this field. We are particularly excited that we have encountered oil across five Miocene zones. This confirms the lateral extent of the deeper pay zones below our main producing reservoir. Following this successful result in the deeper zones, we plan to drill further appraisal wells to continue testing the 63.0 mmbbl of prospective resources defined in the RPS report of November 15, 2011, which are incremental to the 67.0 mmbbl of 2P volumes defined in the report."
"Testing of the first Bua Ban North A wells is expected to begin in the next week. MOPU installation and completion activities were delayed due to severe weather conditions, which disrupted certain parts of the supply chain, as well as damaged the crane on the MOPU, which has been repaired."
Randy Bartley, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company and a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineering and Jerry Moon, Vice President, Technical & Business Development, a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, a Certified Petroleum Geologist and a Licensed Professional Geoscientist in the state of Texas, have reviewed the contents of this announcement.
Additional information, including the Company's complete competent person's report may be found on the Company's website at www.CoastalEnergy.com or may be found in documents filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
This statement contains 'forward-looking statements' as defined by the applicable securities legislation. Statements relating to current and future drilling results, existence and recoverability of potential hydrocarbon reserves, production amounts or revenues, forward capital expenditures, operation costs, oil and gas price forecasts and similar matters are based on current data and information and should be viewed as forward-looking statements. Such statements are not guarantees of future results and are subject to risks and uncertainties beyond Coastal Energy's control. Actual results may differ substantially from the forward-looking statements.
The Coastal Energy Company logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=10062
Glossary:
1P - Volumetric numbers corresponding to "Proven" category for reserves, reflecting a high degree of confidence that the quantities exist and/or can be recovered.
2P - Volumetric numbers corresponding to "Proven" plus "Probable" categories, representing volumes that are more likely than not to exist and/or be recovered.
3P- Volumetric numbers corresponding to "Proven" plus "Probable" plus "Possible" categories, representing an upside estimate.
CONTINGENT RESOURCES are those quantities of petroleum estimated, as of a given date, to be potentially recoverable from known accumulations, but the applied project(s) are not yet considered mature enough for commercial development due to one or more contingencies. Contingent Resources may include, for example, projects for which there are currently no viable markets, or where commercial recovery is dependent on technology under development, or where evaluation of the accumulation is insufficient to clearly assess commerciality. Contingent Resources are further categorized in accordance with the level of certainty associated with the estimates and may be subclassified based on project maturity and/or characterized by their economic status.
PROSPECTIVE RESOURCES are those quantities of petroleum estimated, as of a given date, to be potentially recoverable from undiscovered accumulations by application of future development projects. Prospective Resources have both an associated chance of discovery and a chance of development. Prospective Resources are further subdivided in accordance with the level of certainty associated with recoverable estimates assuming their discovery and development and may be sub-classified based on project maturity.
These securities have not been registered under United States Securities Act of 1933 (the "US Securities Act") or the securities laws of any state and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to US persons (as defined in Regulation S under the US Securities Act) unless an exemption from registration is available.