http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidDN20070719004025/SecProjects/pagNews/chnProjects%20News/objB5CA3253-195D-437A-832DF68D2587A1D7/
Thursday, Jul 19, 2007
By Ayesha Daya
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
DUBAI (Dow Jones)--RAK PetroleumRAK Petroleum, an oil and gas exploration and production company based in the U.A.E. emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, is to review the company's strategy towards the end of the year, the company's new chief executive said.
Appointed a month ago to replace Philip Turberville, Peter Sadler, who previously ran the company's exploration and production arm, told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview that he will meet the board in the next quarter to define future direction and targets.
"In the next quarter I will meet with the board to review our strategy, including our output target," Sadler said in a phone interview. "We will see if we need to continue as we are, or if we change tack."
For the rest of 2007, the company will continue to focus on its core area, exploration in its Omani and Ras Al Khaimah acreage.
"This year we've been quite active operationally," he said.
Current net output is 2,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, Sadler said.
Owned by a number of local investors, including the Ras Al Khaimah government, RAKRAK is one of several companies established in the Gulf in recent years keen to enter the international oil and gas arena.
Sadler used to head Indago PetroleumIndago Petroleum (IPL.LN), the London Alternative Investment Market-listed energy firm. He moved to RAKRAK in April when it acquired all of Indago's exploration and production assets for GBP194.2 million.
RAKRAK continues to share exploration assets in Oman with Indago, including Block 31, Jebel Hafit, a 104-square-kilometer mountain area estimated to hold 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent on the Omani side. The other side of the mountain is in Abu Dhabi, which hasn't been drilled.
Indago recently announced that drilling in the Jebel Hafit well would cost a further $8.2 million owing to problems with drilling in a high pressure environment.
"The cost has been $21 million to date. It is going to cost some $40 million by the time we have finished," Sadler said.
Results, previously expected in June, will now be known by the end of September.
For the past two weeks, operations have been shut down to prepare for the next phase of drilling, which will commence later Thursday or Friday, Sadler said.
"It will take 40 to 50 days to get into the reservoir, and a further 30 to 40 days once inside it to evaluate reserves," Sadler said. "By the end of the third quarter, we should have an idea."
After Jebel Hafit, the company is targeting the Zad-1 wildcat in Block 47 in Oman.
West Bukha, an oil prospect offshore Oman, is scheduled to produce between 10,000 to 15,000 barrels a day of oil from May 2008, Sadler said.
New acquisitions of assets and companies in the Middle East and North Africa are always on the cards for RAKRAK, Sadler said. "Our strategy is to acquire to expand in gas and oil," he said. "The MENA region is an area where we think we can work."
The company's offer in April for Algeria-focused Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (GKP.LN) failed to materialize.
"Gulf Keystone was a $400 million bid. That money is no longer committed, but there is no point rushing to get rid of it," he said.
Sadler said that a proposed initial public offering of RAKRAK had "no definite timing."
-By Ayesha Daya, Dow Jones Newswires; +971 4 3644962; ayesha.daya@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 19, 2007 05:51 ET (09:51 GMT)