Oilexco Closes Balmoral Acquisition and Updates Operations
Friday December 21, 7:00 am ET
CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Dec. 21, 2007) - Oilexco Incorporated and its wholly owned subsidiary Oilexco North Sea Limited ("Oilexco" or the "Company") (TSX:OIL - News; LSE:OIL - News) is pleased to announce that the acquisition of additional interests in the Balmoral, Glamis, and Sterling oil fields, as well as the Balmoral FPV has closed and that operatorship of the Fields and the Balmoral FPV has been transferred to Oilexco.
Arthur Millholland, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented "This is a milestone for our Company as we now are a UK North Sea facilities operator. We will now focus on optimizing our production from the Balmoral core area. This will allow Oilexco to grow is production in the near term, and flatten our declines in the long term."
The Company has also successfully commissioned its multi-phase pump at Brenda. Production from the Brenda and Nicol Fields has increased from previous levels, and will continue to do so as the Brenda subsea production system is further optimized. These operations will continue over the next few weeks.
Drilling operations at the Morro/Coronado (72.7% WI) exploratory well have been completed. Two long reach well bores from a central drilling location were drilled targeting oil in the Paleocene Forties sand at Coronado and Morro respectively. The results the well bores are under evaluation. Wireline testing was unable to be undertaken due to the highly deviated nature of the well bores. The drilling location is currently being abandoned. Once these operations are completed, the semi-submersible Ocean Guardian will move the Company's Bugle project located in Block 15/23d to appraise the 1997 15/23d-13 Upper Jurassic discovery which tested 7,400 Bbl/d of 44 degrees API sweet crude oil. This re-entry well bore will attempt to target the oil- water contact which is currently undefined.
About the Company
Oilexco is an oil and gas exploration and production company active in the United Kingdom. Oilexco's producing properties, exploration and development activities are located in the UK Central North Sea, specifically in the Outer Moray Firth and Central Graben areas. Oilexco operates in the United Kingdom through its wholly owned subsidiary, Oilexco North Sea, a company registered under the laws of England and Wales. Oilexco shares are listed for trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol "OIL".
Forward Looking Statements
This disclosure contains certain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond Oilexco's control, including: the impact of general economic conditions in the areas in which Oilexco operates, civil unrest, industry conditions, changes in laws and regulations including the adoption of new environmental laws and regulations and changes in how they are interpreted and enforced, increased competition, the lack of availability of qualified personnel or management, fluctuations in commodity prices, foreign exchange or interest rates, stock market volatility and obtaining required approvals of regulatory authorities. In addition there are risks and uncertainties associated with oil and gas operations, therefore Oilexco's actual results, performance or achievement could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits, including the amounts of proceeds, which Oilexco will derive therefrom. All statements included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that Oilexco expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These statements include future production rates, completion and production timetables and costs to complete wells, and production facilities. These statements are based on assumptions made by Oilexco based on its experience perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors it believes are appropriate in the circumstances.
Contact:
Arthur S. Millholland
Oilexco Incorporated
President
(403) 262-5441
Brian L. Ward
Oilexco Incorporated
Chief Financial Officer
(403) 262-5441
Rob Elgie
Oilexco Incorporated
Manager Investor Relations
(403) 262-5441
Website: www.oilexco.com
James Henderson
Pelham PR
Managing Director
44 (20) 7743 6673
Alisdair Haythornthwaite
Pelham PR
Associate Director
44 (20) 7743 6676
Clayton Bush
Canaccord Adams Limited
Vice-President
44 (20) 7050 6500
Andrew Osborne
Merrill Lynch International
Managing Director
44 (20) 7996 1000
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Source: OILEXCO INCORPORATED
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