Sound Oil subsidiary awarded permit

29th Sep 2011 09:00

Oil and gas firm Sound Oil's wholly owned subsidiary, Apennine Energy, has been awarded the Costa Del Sole Permit off the coast of Sicily.The permit includes the Manfria-1bis oil discovery, which flowed at a rate of 150 barrels of oil per day and produced a cumulative 6,000 barrels during testing. Apennine Energy will be the 100% interest holder and operator of the permit, which was awarded by the Department of Energy of the Sicily region and is subject to the submission and acceptance of an environmental impact assessment. Costa Del Sole is located in the southwest coastal region of Sicily in an area of known heavy oil discoveries and producing fields. An undrilled prospect (Cielo) is adjacent to the Manfriad discovery and could contain a similar resource if successfully drilled, the group said. Cielo appears to be in structural continuity with Manfria indicating a possible shared oil water contact and increased chance of hydrocarbon charge to the prospect. Both discovery and prospect are located some 10 kilometres from the Gela field and heavy oil refinery. The group's forward strategy for the block is to acquire, reprocess and interpret legacy seismic data in order to define drilling locations for possible appraisal and exploration wells.Chairman and chief executive officer Gerry Orbell: "I am pleased that this award continues the expansion of the Apennine portfolio of appraisal and development assets and provides us with additional opportunities for early drilling and revenue generation."NR