Austral Pacific Updates Cheal Development
March 08 2007 - 8:32PM
PR Newswire (US)
Cheal - PMP 38156 - New Zealand WELLINGTON, New Zealand, March 8
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Austral Pacific Energy Ltd. (TSX-V: APX;
NZSX: APX; Amex: AEN) Further to the Company's news release of
January 31 disclosing initial flow rates for the Cheal B3 well, the
initial 10 day production testing of the Cheal B3 well was
completed on 5 February 2007. During that time the well produced at
an average rate of 434 barrels of oil per day and 283 thousand
standard cubic feet of gas per day. The well was choked back
throughout the test to maintain a flow rate of approximately 500
barrels of oil per day. Further testing of the Cheal B3 well is
expected to commence on 9th March. Testing of the Cheal B1 well
commenced on 7 February 2007 and was jet pumped for 11 days. The
well produced at an average of rate of 126 barrels of oil per day
and 262 thousand standard cubic feet of gas per day and 7 barrels
of water per day. The well has been shut in for a build up test.
Testing of the Cheal B2 well commenced on 19 February 2007 and was
jet pumped for 14 days. The well produced at an average rate of 159
barrels of oil per day and 96 thousand cubic feet of gas per day
and 1 barrel of water per day. Workovers of the Cheal A3 and Cheal
A4 wells and a re-entry and completion of the Cheal A2 well as a
possible water injector are expected to commence in mid April. The
tubing in the Cheal A3 and Cheal A4 wells will be replaced with
chrome and the jet pump will be set closer to the Mt Messenger
formation in order to improve the efficiency of the jet pumping
operations. The Cheal A5 and Cheal A6 wells will be drilled from
the Cheal A site once construction of the production facilities has
been completed. The wells are expected to spud in mid June and will
be tied into the new facilities as soon as they are completed.
Construction of the Cheal production facilities continues at the
Cheal A site with work progressing well. The main pipe racks and
the electrical control house have now been installed along with one
of the main coolers. Detailed engineering design on the pipelines
connecting the Cheal A and Cheal B sites is nearing completion and
the pipeline construction contract has been let. The gas sales
agreement is nearly complete while negotiations to secure
arrangements for the long term transportation, storage and sale of
crude oil production are continuing. Rick Webber, President and CEO
of Austral Pacific said, "We are pleased with the results of the
well testing, particularly so in regard to the B3 well. The better
weather we are now experiencing has led to an acceleration of
progress on the construction of the production facilities and we
expect the plant to be commissioned in May with full production of
1900 barrels per day of oil available in July." Austral Pacific
holds a 69.5% interest in the permit and is the operator. Petroleum
Exploration Permit (PEP) 38524 - New Zealand On 8 March 2007,
Austral Pacific was awarded PEP 38524 in the southern offshore
Taranaki Basin. PEP 38524 is located immediately west and north of
D'Urville Island and covers an area of 2,187 square kilometres. The
first stage of the work programme requires Austral Pacific to
undertake seismic reprocessing, acquire aeromagnetic data and
complete either a 2D or 3D seismic survey by 1 April 2008. Austral
Pacific Energy Ltd holds a 100 percent interest in PEP 38524 and is
the operator. Web site: http://www.austral-pacific.com/ Email:
Phone: Rick Webber, CEO +64 (4) 495 0880 None of the Exchanges upon
which Austral Pacific's securities trade have approved or
disapproved the contents hereof. This release includes certain
statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of applicable legislation. Other than statements
of historical fact, all statements in this release addressing
future production, reserve potential, exploration and development
activities and other contingencies are forward-looking statements.
Although management believes the expectations expressed in such
forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions,
such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and
actual results or developments may differ materially from those in
the forward-looking statements, due to factors such as market
prices, exploration and development successes, continued
availability of capital and financing, and general economic,
market, political or business conditions. See our public filings at
http://www.sedar.com/ and
http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/webusers.htm for further
information. DATASOURCE: Austral Pacific Energy Ltd. CONTACT: Rick
Webber, CEO of Austral Pacific Energy Ltd., +64 (4) 495 0880, Web
site: http://www.austral-pacific.com/
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