Cultus-led group offered Timor exploration block

Cultus-led group offered Timor exploration block

WELLINGTON (Reuter): A consortium including New Zealand's Cultus Petroleum NL has been offered the exploration block AC96-1 in the Timor Sea, Cultus said yesterday.

The consortium consists of four companies -- Cultus Timor Sea Limited, Cosmo Oil Co. Limited, Crusader Resources NL and PanCanadian Petroleum Limited, each with a 25 percent share.

"The offer of the Timor Sea Block AC96-1 provides Cultus and partners with further quality acreage in a proven oil producing Basin," Cultus said in a statement.

"The winning bid involves seismic acquisition and reprocessing during the guaranteed first three-year period of the six-year permit term, followed by the optional drilling of two wells (one in each of years four and six) for a total indicative expenditure of A$19.7 million,"

Cultus said the group has benefited from the expertise Cultus had developed in the area.

"The fact that adjacent blocks, both in Australian and Indonesian waters, have substantial drilling commitments attests to the industry's perception of the prospectivity of the area," Cultus said.

Cultus said it saw important similarities between projects in AC96-1 and the Laminaria oil discovery, which was in a similar geological setting.

"The Cultus-operated consortium includes large multinational oil companies from Canada and Japan, which have been participants with Cultus in other ventures in the Timor Sea," Cultus said.