Drillsearch Energy Limited announces Bauer-9 confirms further extension of Bauer Oil Field

Monday, Nov 19, 2012

Drillsearch Energy Limited (ASX: DLS) is pleased to announce that the Bauer-9 appraisal/development well has proven northwest extension of the Bauer Oil Field. Bauer-9 is to be cased and suspended as a future oil producer after encountering net oil pay in both the McKinlay and Namur sandstones. Bauer-9 was drilled by the PEL 91 Joint Venture which consists of Drillsearch 60% and Beach Energy as Operator 40%.

The Bauer-9 well has confirmed the extension of the field further north, intersecting a total of 10.7 metres of net oil pay - 3.7 metres of net oil pay in the McKinlay Formation and a further 7 metres in the Namur Sandstones - over a 14 metre gross interval. Oil shows in the secondary target Birkhead formation were also encountered in Bauer-9 over a 11 metre interval but the well location appears to have been suboptimal for intersecting the Birkhead interval at this location.

The Bauer-9 well is located 800 metres north west from the successful Bauer-8 development well, 1.6 km south-west of the Bauer North Oil discovery well and 2.8km west, south-west of the Basham-1 oil discovery well (see attached map). Following the success of the Bauer North Oil Discovery, one of the key objectives of the Bauer-9 well was also to appraise the potential for the Bauer and Bauer North fields to be part of a common oil pool. The Bauer-9 result adds additional support that the Bauer and Bauer North are part of a common larger oil pool.

Drillsearch Managing Director, Brad Lingo said, "The FY 2013 appraisal and development drilling program in PEL 91 has been a tremendous success for the Company. Not only has this drilling program proven the Bauer Oil Field is much larger than originally expected, it has clearly demonstrated the field may extend as far north as the Bauer North Oil Discovery. This success and the success of the Bauer North Oil Discovery will significantly contribute to a further uplift in the Company’s oil Reserves."

On 16 November 2012, Drillsearch announced a 22% increase in the 2P reserves for the Bauer Oil Field to 8.2 mmbbls (gross) based on the results from the Bauer 1-8 wells. With the drilling of the Bauer-9 and Bauer North Oil Discovery, Drillsearch will be undertaking a further comprehensive remapping of the Bauer Oil Field to incorporate the results of the most recent successes at Bauer-9 and Bauer North. The Company believes that these additional results will have a material impact on the overall Reserves of the Bauer Oil Field and for the Company. The Company anticipates completing this further work towards the end of CYE 2012.

Following the drilling of Bauer-9 the Ensign 930 rig will move to the exploration well Pennington-1 located 9.3km east of the Bauer Oil Field.

Source: Drillsearch Energy Limited

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