Vancouver, British Columbia, July 29th, 2015. Newport Exploration Ltd ("Newport" or the "Company") is pleased to provide a further update on production and development on the production licences in the former PEL 91, the former PEL 106, and exploration results from PRL 163, as reported by Beach Energy Ltd ("Beach") on July 29th, 2015.
Production
PEL 91
In the former PEL 91 (Beach 40% and operator, Drillsearch Energy Ltd ("Drillsearch") 60%) oil production increased 22% to 447 kbbl (net) due to the tie-in of three Bauer Field pad wells (Bauer-16, -17 and -18) (as reported in the Company's news release dated July 23rd, 2015) following commissioning of expanded water handling capacity at the Bauer facility. The expansion included four new separators, which have increased capacity to 75,000 bfpd (+25,000 bfpd). The remaining four Bauer Field pad wells (Bauer-20 to -23) will be progressively brought online during Beach's September 2015 quarter. Trucking of volumes beyond pipeline capacity also contributed to higher quarterly production.
Infrastructure installations and upgrades continued and are expected to sustain gross production in excess of 12,000 bopd through to the end of calendar year 2015. These activities included:
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Completion of the Stunsail facility, with installation of three separators and three production tanks providing capacity of 20,000 bfpd. Commissioning of the facility and trucking of first oil occurred in July 2015.
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Construction of the Pennington facility, which will comprise three separators and three production tanks providing capacity of 20,000 bfpd. Commissioning of the facility and trucking of the first oil is expected by the end of September.
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Trunkline installation to connect the Stunsail and Pennington facilities to the Bauer to Lycium network. Commissioning of the Stunsail shipping pump is expected late in Beach's September 2015 quarter, followed by commissioning of the Pennington shipping pump early in Beach's December 2015 quarter. The trunklines will alleviate the need for trucking of oil from Stunsail and Pennington to the Bauer facility.
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Completion of connections at Chiton-3, Hanson-2 and Balgowan-1, with all wells expected online in Beach's September 2015 quarter.
PEL 106
In the former PEL 106 (Beach 50% and operator, Drillsearch 50%) sales gas and LPG production decreased 7% to 62 kboe (net) and condensate production decreased 6% to 7.5 kboe, with reductions attributable to natural field decline. Engineering and design of several projects have commenced, including completion and connection of Ralgnal-1 and Canunda-2.
Exploration
Pennington-4, located in PRL 163, was an appraisal well drilled to assess upside potential of the Namur and Mid Namur reservoirs in the Pennington Field, with assessment of the lower Birkhead Formation a secondary objective. The well was drilled to appraise and develop the southern part of the oil bearing anticlinal structure, as intersected by Pennington-1 and Pennington-2. The well was cased and suspended as a future producer following intersection of a 2.5 metre net oil column in the target Namur Sandstone, and a 4.2 metre gross oil bearing interval in the overlaying McKinlay Member.
Processing of the Solidus 3D seismic survey (covering 492 km2) and associated reprocessing (for total 3D seismic survey coverage of 950 km2) continued. Interpretation of results is expected to commence later in the July 2015 quarter. Processing of the Caseolus 3D seismic survey for the inversion project, which covers 509 km2 in the former PEL 91 permit, was completed. Interpretation of results will commence in Beach's September 2015 quarter, with a focus on identifying Birkhead Formation leads.
The Company continues to strongly encourage shareholders and potential investors to access information released independently by Beach, Drillsearch and Santos Ltd in order to keep current during an active period of exploration and development of these licences.
For further information contact:
Ian Rozier, Director and Chief Executive Officer
+1 604 685 6851
[email protected]
www.newport-exploration.com
www.beachenergy.com.au
www.drillsearch.com
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, which contains certain forward-looking statements, is intended to provide readers with a reasonable basis for assessing the financial performance of the Company. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. The words "believe", "should", "could", "expect", "anticipate", "contemplate", "target", "plan", "intends", "continue", "budget", "estimate", "may", "will", "schedule" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements pertain to assumptions regarding the price of oil, fluctuations in currency markets (specifically the Australian dollar and the U.S. dollar), the future funding of the Company's projects, and the future development of the Company's projects. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, which considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the risk of fluctuations in the assumed exchange rates of currencies that directly impact the Company, such as the Canadian dollar, Australian dollar and U.S. dollar, the risk of fluctuations in the assumed prices of oil, the risk of changes in government legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in Canada, the United States, 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, including the risk of obtaining necessary licences and permits, and assumed quantities or grades of reserves. Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can affect the Company's actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, the Company. 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.