WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Austral Pacific Energy Ltd. (TSX-V: APX; NZSX: APX)
Austral Pacific has revised its reserves estimates, in the process of preparing its annual reserves report. The Independent Reserves Evaluator's report, prepared by Sproule International Limited, estimates Austral's 69.5% share of the Cheal oilfield Proved and Probable oil reserves at 344mbo as at December 31, 2008.
The reserves revision has been driven by a number of factors including significantly reduced forward-looking oil price assumptions. Additional contributing factors include: lower oil volumes due to the reduced thickness of the oil bearing reservoir encountered in the Cheal-A6 well in June 2008, a reduced number of wells included in the model as a result of current market conditions, and a more conservative recovery factor based on the existing well performance over the past 12 months.
Austral CEO Thompson Jewell said, "It is Austral's view that the field retains its upside potential. We are evaluating the impact of stimulating the existing wells to improve both production rates and ultimate recovery per well. Given success in this optimization program, we will be looking for capital investment for a staged drilling campaign to expand the field and reserves."
"Austral is continuing to reduce the production costs for the field and is projecting an OPEX figure, including transport and marketing, of approximately $US19.20 per barrel produced through the first six months of 2009."
The reserves estimates have been prepared in accordance with the COGE Handbook and Canadian securities regulations. A full report on the company's year end reserves will be filed by March 31, 2009.
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.
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