Vancouver, British Columbia, April 24th, 2018. Newport Exploration Ltd (“Newport” or “the Company”) is pleased to provide an update on drilling activities and production on ex PEL 91 and ex PEL 106 in the Cooper Basin, Australia over which the Company has a 2.5% gross overriding royalty. This information was reported by Beach Energy Ltd (“Beach”) (ASX: BPT) in a quarterly report dated 24th April, 2018, and reference should be made to their website for their interpretation of the results and any plans to bring wells into production.
Drilling
Beach previously reported that the drilling component of the Stunsail field development project was successfully completed. The campaign comprised an initial two-well vertical phase later followed by a two-well horizontal phase. The Stunsail-6 Horizontal well was the first Birkhead Formation horizontal development well on the Western Flank and drilled a 585 metre lateral section and encountered 203 metres of net oil pay, as reported in a news release by the Company dated March 7th, 2018. The Stunsail-7 Horizontal well targeted the McKinlay Member and drilled a 528 metre lateral section and encountered 509 metres of net oil pay, as reported in a news release by the Company dated April 4th, 2018.
Stunsail-6 and -7 will be monitored to confirm their anticipated superior return potential. These successes have led to the identification of further horizontal well locations to be drilled in Beach’s FY2019.
Production
Beach report a 22% increase in production from ex PEL 91. This increase reflected production uplift from the recently completed artificial lift campaign (four artificial lift installations completed during Beach’s Q2 and three completed in Q3 FY2018), the results of debottlenecking work in the field, and a full quarter’s contribution from Stanleys-1 which was brought online in December 2017.
The increase in production from ex PEL 91 was complimented by a 6% increase in production from ex PEL 106 for the quarter.
Guidance
The Company receives its gross overriding royalty from the operator who is not a reporting issuer in Canada, and therefore, not required to comply with the requirements of NI 51-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities, hence Newport is not able to confirm if the disclosure satisfies the requirements of NI 51-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities, or other requirements of Canadian securities legislation.
The Company is unable to forecast potential productivity for each well and continues to strongly encourage shareholders and potential investors to access information released independently by Beach and Santos Ltd to keep current during exploration, development and production guidance of all the licences subject to the Company’s gross overriding royalty.
For further information contact:
Ian Rozier, Director and Chief Executive Officer
+1 604 685 6851
info@newport-exploration.com
www.newport-exploration.com
www.beachenergy.com.au
www.santos.com
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this news release.
Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information
This news release is intended to provide readers with a reasonable basis for assessing the financial performance of the Company. The words “believe”, “should”, “could”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “contemplate”, “target”, “plan”, “intends”, “continue”, “budget”, “estimate”, “may”, “will”, “schedule” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may pertain to assumptions regarding the price of oil and fluctuations in currency markets (specifically the Australian dollar). Forward-looking statements are based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, which are considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Factors include, but are not limited to, the risk of fluctuations in the assumed prices of oil, the risk of changes in government legislation including the risk of obtaining necessary licences and permits, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in Canada, Australia or other countries in which the Company carries or may carry on business in the future, risks associated with developmental activities, the speculative nature of exploration and development, and assumed quantities or grades of reserves. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those acknowledged in such statements.
The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by applicable laws.