Roc Oil (Equatorial Guinea) Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of ROC, has agreed to farm down its interest in Block H, offshore Equatorial Guinea, to White Rose Energy Ventures (Equatorial Guinea) Limited ("White Rose"), a portfolio company of First Reserve Corporation, from 37.5% to 20.0% for a free carry through the drilling of an exploration well. ROC will also receive an upfront payment of US$0.9 million and additional bonuses subject to the success of the well. ROC will relinquish technical operatorship of the permit to White Rose. The effective date of the farm down is 1 July 2011. The agreement is subject to receipt of relevant joint venture and government approvals, and extension of the block’s term to at least the end of 2012 in order to provide sufficient time to drill the exploration well.
Block H contains several prospects and leads, including the undrilled Aleta-1 prospect, which is a large Cretaceous channel sand system (comparable reservoirs to the Ceiba discovery) identified on block-wide 3D seismic data. An exploration well is planned to be drilled during 2012.
Commenting on the farm-down, ROC’s Chief Executive Officer, Alan Linn, stated:
"The farm-down of ROC’s interest in Block H, offshore Equatorial Guinea, follows the sale of ROC’s share in the Cabinda Onshore South Block, onshore Angola, announced in May 2011 and full exit from Mozambique Channel exploration blocks announced in July 2011.
The farm-down of this asset will allow ROC to redeploy capital and resources to pursue opportunities more consistent with the Company’s strategy, whilst retaining exposure to the potential upside provided by the Aleta-1 prospect. ROC’s strategy is to generate future growth through exploration, appraisal and pre-development opportunities located in the focus region of China, South East Asia and Australasia. ROC continues to pursue the divestment of its remaining offshore Mauritania interests."
