China North East Petroleum Briefs Preliminary Results for 2Q11

- China North East Petroleum Briefs Preliminary Results for 2Q11

Friday, July 22, 2011
China North East Petroleum Holdings Ltd.

China North East Petroleum Holdings announced preliminary second quarter 2011 oil production results and second quarter 2011 drilling results for its oil drilling and service subsidiary, Tiancheng.

The Company's crude oil production for the 2011 second quarter was 160,600 barrels, a 1.5% decrease sequentially from 162,990 barrels in the 2011 first quarter. The total number of wells in production as of June 30, 2011 was 295 compared to 295 wells in production as of March 31, 2011.

Additionally, the Company's oil drilling and service subsidiary, Tiancheng, completed drilling contracts for 40 wells with a total drilling depth of 60,817 meters (199,531 feet) in the second quarter of 2011 compared to 26 wells drilled with a total drilling depth of 45,327 meters (148,711 feet) in the first quarter of 2011.

Mr. Jingfu Li, CEO of China North East Petroleum commented, "We were pleased that our oil production results for the second quarter were within our quarterly production guidance range of 160-180 thousand barrels. There was a slight decrease in our sequential quarterly production results due to the short-term closure of approximately twenty wells in the second quarter to conduct fracture work which, after completion, typically results in greater oil production yields.

"Tiancheng's drilling activity improved considerably in the second quarter compared with the first quarter 2011. The 54% sequential improvement in wells drilled at our Tiancheng subsidiary was due to increased drilling activity by PetroChina ('PTR') Jilin and the return to a more consistent work schedule by our drilling crew. We are encouraged to observe increased drilling activity for PTR Jilin and hope to continue to benefit from expanded drilling initiatives at PTR as well as with private operators in the second half of 2011. We look forward to updating investors on our initiatives when we officially report our second quarter 2011 results in August."

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Iraq Oil Minister, Shell Confirm Preliminary Gas Accord

- Iraq Oil Minister, Shell Confirm Preliminary Gas Accord

Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
LONDON
by Hassan Hafidh

Iraq's Oil Minister Tuesday and oil giant Shell reached a preliminary accord on a long-stalled $12 billion gas deal to capture and exploit associated gas from southern Iraq oil fields.

The agreement still needs to be approved by the Iraqi Cabinet.

"The Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaiby announced today that Iraq has signed an initial contract with Shell and Japan's Mitsubishi to develop gas production in southern Iraq," the Iraqi statement said.

A Shell statement said the Anglo-Dutch oil giant was "very pleased the Basrah Gas Company Joint Venture agreements have been initialized" and that the Anglo-Dutch giant will now "look forward" to Cabinet approval.

The long-delayed agreement is important to Iraq's goals of boosting long-term oil production, because of the need to produce "associated" natural gas produced concurrently with rising oil output.

The two sides signed an initial agreement in 2008 to begin negotiations, but the talks have been delayed mainly over the pricing of produced gas that the joint venture would sell to the Iraqi government for much-needed power generation in Iraq. It wasn't immediately clear Tuesday how the agreement resolved the long-standing impasse.

The deal concerns the huge volumes of gas from three giant southern oil fields: Rumaila, Zubair and West Qurna Phase 1.

Deputy Oil Minister Ahmed al-Shammaa, who was present at the signing ceremony, said that the deal would help to increase Iraq's gas production to more than 2.5 billion cubic feet a day.

Iraq, holder of the world's 11th gas reserves, produces some 1.5 billion cubic feet a day, with half of that amount is being flared daily, because of lack of infrastructure to produce and market the gas.

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Max Petroleum Spies Oil Pay at Kazakh Prospect

Max Petroleum Spies Oil Pay at Kazakh Prospect

Friday, April 01, 2011
Max Petroleum plc

Max Petroleum updated its activities in the Blocks A&E License area in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Kazakstan

Preliminary Drilling Results at Asanketken

The ASK-1 exploration well on the Asanketken prospect in Block E has reached an intermediate depth of 2,000 meters with electric logs indicating 24 meters of net oil pay at depths from 1,230 to 1,302 meters in the Jurassic Formation. Reservoir quality is excellent with porosities ranging from 17% to 33%. A fluid sample taken from a depth of 1,278 meters yielded 45 degree API oil. Current mapping and pressure data suggest that reserves in this accumulation are limited by the proximity of a trapping fault, but the Jurassic reservoirs, a secondary objective in the well, are expected to be commercially viable.

The Company will run casing over this portion of the well as planned and continue to drill ahead to a total depth of approximately 3,300 meters to evaluate the primary exploration targets in the lower Triassic section.

Procurement of two additional drilling rigs

The Company has entered into a two-year contract with PM Lucas Enterprises Limited for an IDECO 8055 Rambler rig capable of drilling to 3,200 meters (the "IDECO Rig").

Due to recent weather conditions limiting access to the Uytas Field, the IDECO rig is currently mobilizing to drill the NARS-1 exploration well on the Narmundanak South prospect in Block E, which is expected to spud on or around 20 April 2011.

The Company intends to drill three confirmation wells at Uytas with the IDECO Rig subsequent to drilling the NARS-1 well.

The Company has also awarded a tender to Saipem, a subsidiary of Eni, S.p.A, for a rig to drill its deep pre-salt exploration program and expects to execute a drilling contract shortly.

The Company plans to commence drilling the first pre-salt well, NUR-1, in Block E during August 2011, targeting unrisked mean resource potential of 467 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) distributed over a probable range (P90 to P10) of 170 million to 817 million mmboe with a 29% geological chance of success.

Trial Production at Borkyldakty

The Central Committee for Exploration and Development (CCED) has recommended the trial production project for the Borkyldakty Field to the Committee of Geology for final approval.

This final approval and the issuance of required gas flaring and emissions permits are expected in the next 30-45 days. The Company intends to drill at least one appraisal well at Borkyldakty during the first half of 2011 using the ZJ-30 rig that is currently drilling the first of two Triassic appraisal wells in the Zhana Makat Field.

Robert Holland, Executive Co-Chairman, commented, "We are encouraged to see high quality oil pay in the Jurassic section in Asanketken, which lowers the risk of charge for the well's primary objectives in the lower Triassic. Adding additional rigs, including the deep rig for our pre-salt exploration program, is a key step in our plans to significantly ramp up our exploration, appraisal and development activity in 2011.

We also expect a substantial increase in production and revenues in the near-term as we bring on additional appraisal and development wells in Zhana Makat, Borkyldakty and Uytas."