RIFT OIL PLC
PLACING AND ADMISSION TO AIM


Rift Oil plc ("Rift" or "the Company") has raised 2.3 million before expenses,
through a private placing of 24,080,000 new Ordinary Shares and a placing on
admission to the AIM Market ("AIM") of 22,200,000 new Ordinary Shares, both at
0.05 per share, giving the Company a market capitalisation at the placing price
of 17.3 million. The shares will begin trading on AIM today (19 April 2006).
Insinger de Beaufort is the Nominated Adviser and Broker to the Placing.

Rift was established in November 2004 to acquire a 65% interest in an oil and
gas exploration licence, the petroleum prospecting licence number 235 ("PPL 235
Licence"), in western Papua New Guinea. It acquired this interest in December
2004 through its subsidiary Foreland Oil Limited ("Foreland Oil"), in return for
a commitment to spend US$6 million (approximately 3.2 million) on the
exploration and development of PPL 235. The remaining 35% interest in the PPL
235 Licence is held by Trans-Orient Petroleum (PNG) Limited ("TOPPNG"), a wholly
owned subsidiary of Austral Pacific Energy Ltd ("Austral"), a Yukon
incorporated, oil exploration company operating in New Zealand whose shares are
publicly traded in the United States of America, Canada and New Zealand.

In January 2005, the Company and Austral entered into a joint venture operating
agreement to constitute the joint venture between the Company and Austral (the "
Joint Venture") in relation to the exploration activities to be undertaken
within PPL 235. These include a commitment to drill one exploration well, which
has already commenced as set out below.

Between December 2004 and March 2005, the Company raised a total of 4,505,000
at 0.25 per share from a range of private investors pursuant to an offer for
subscription to enable it to meet its initial obligations in relation to PPL
235, and as general working capital. On 10 April 2006 the Company raised an
additional aggregate sum of 1,204,000 by way of a private placing also at 0.05
per share.

The Joint Venture experienced difficulties in securing an appropriate rig in
order to begin the proposed drilling program on PPL 235. This was due to the
current high demand worldwide for the hire of drilling rigs. This led to the
decision by the Joint Venture, in late July 2005, to purchase the Coral Sea-1
Rig, a heli-transportable, free standing double for the purposes of the Joint
Venture.

PPL 235 covers a total area of approximately 2,910 sq km and lies within the
Foreland Basin, an area southwest of the Papua New Guinea highlands
approximately 500 km west from the capital, Port Moresby. The Company has chosen
the Douglas Prospect and the Puk Puk-1 (previously known as 'Kamu') Prospect
("the Prospects") as the initial targets on PPL 235.

Following extensive commissioning work, drilling on the Douglas Prospect, the
first prospect on PPL 235, commenced on 4 April 2006. The Company expects to
reach the planned total depth of around 2,000m after approximately 20 days of
drilling. This will be followed by a 4 day wireline logging program to determine
what further testwork may be required. Further analysis and interpretation of
the results will be necessary during early May before an announcement can be
made. The Company will then decide whether the results are sufficiently
encouraging to either:

(i) flow test the well;

(ii) drill further appraisal well(s);

(iii) shoot more seismic over the field; or

(iv) drill the Puk Puk-1 Prospect, also on PPL 235.

Rift has lodged an application, together with Austral, for a further PPL (APPL
261) covering an area of some 3,958 sq km immediately north of PPL 235. This
application is in the name of Foreland Oil (for and on behalf of Rift) as to
50%, and TOPPNG (for and on behalf of Austral) as to 50%.

RIFT on the way up, now the overhang has been cleared today

Posting from the other side:

Keep the faith news due soon, just look at SER today, our time will come:

http://www.austral-pacific.com/newsdetail.php?ID=201

Funding now in place, we just wait for the RNS

Hello Paul, I thought you were banned?

change of subject: there could be more delays at eme, glantal site as mentioned on another board !

Can someone remind me why I hold these?

Keaydian - Gas find awaiting flow testing results and good possibility of oil when drilling commences.

Oh, I remember now thanks Explosive

So do I, bought in last month, should come up with a nice announcement in a few weeks about the gas condensate, well pressure etc. Looks good for a bounce then. Till then, not selling any.

News on a block very close to PPL 235 of RIFT that has now tested commercial for condensates. This news has boosted the chances thats RIFT's well will also be commercial in condensates. The flow below is very good, and if RIFT get similar when they test Douglas-1, then RIFT SP should be flying back upwards.


June 26, 2006 1:59 PM
InterOil Corp., Toronto, said its Elk-1 ST-1 exploration well on PPL 238 in the eastern Papuan basin flowed wet gas at the rate of 30-50 MMcfd for 30 min at 2,000 psi on an open hole drillstem test at 5,381-5,558 ft.

Top up time PP.

http://www.austral-pacific.com/

Drilling & Production Operations : Progress Reports

Douglas-1 ST1 PPL 235, Papua New Guinea

June 28 - Preparations for the completion and testing of the Douglas-1 well are continuing. Well completion and testing equipment have been sourced and are ready for transportation to the wellsite pending final budget approval by the Joint Venture.

Lots of buying activity today, pressume they are expecting RNS to be released by Rift today, based on the Austral news update posted on thier web-site.

Hmmmm!

I would say potential positive news that they are confident on the well just drilled testing commercial, and therefore see no need to drill the Puk Puk 1 prospect in the near future, and so are renting out the rig.

http://www.rigzone.com/market/(S(mddejh55qo3xho45rcwfoena))/Detail.aspx?aid=1034

PP, that's quite a find, but not sure about your interpretation. They can't be planning to turn a multi-trillion cu ft gas find into a producer without using a drilling rig, can they?

The market seems to have a very different view of RIFT compares to the private investors as portrayed by BB posters. Why is that?

soultraders, the announcement came (late June) just after the Austral news release to say they have got the testing equipment for Douglas-1.

The key thing is condensate flows here, if they have commercial levels of condensate then they can put this into production, the gas would have to wait years for the pipeline, but condensates is a different matter.

May be wrong, but guesswork would say they are confident they will not be needing to drill Puk Puk 1 for some time, and in that time they will be putting Douglas-1 into production......so therefore can rent the rig out.........who knows...but very interesting.

Interesting indeed. I am slightly surprised that they don't want to drill Puk-Puk as soon as possible as well, but if they are a small team with a big project ahead of them I can understand them wanting to concentrate on a successful (hopefully) job in hand.

did RIFT say at any time how many wells they had drilled on-site, or is Douglas-1 literally just the one, as I suspect? Sounds like not very many holes to me - or am I simply too used to Russian producers with herds of nodding donkeys all over the landscape?

The rig operators 'Austral' web-site reference to the Douglas-1 well has been removed in the last hour, we may have a news statement released today?

Like?