DALLAS, TEXAS - (September 7, 2004) - Toreador Resources Corporation
(NASDAQ: TRGL; TSX: TRX) and its partners Stratic Energy Corporation and TPAO, the Turkish national oil company, report the Ayazli-1 exploratory well in the Black Sea offshore Turkey has discovered natural gas. The analysis of drilling, wireline logging and test results indicated the presence of gas zones from 2,122 feet to 3,171 feet. On multiple tests conducted through casing the combined flow rates on a 32/64-inch choke were approximately 15 million cubic feet of gas per day with an average flowing wellhead pressure of 824 pounds per square inch.
The Ayazli-1 well was drilled on the company's South Akcakoca prospect about five miles offshore in the shallow waters of the western Black Sea. The well encountered gas in the Eocene-age Kusuri formation, the well's primary objective. This Tertiary sequence that tested gas in the Ayazli-1 also tested gas in the nearby Akcakoca-1 well drilled by TPAO in 1975.
The Ayazli-1 well will be temporarily suspended pending future development activity in the South Akcakoca area. Toreador plans to conduct a high-definition
seismic survey in the fourth quarter of 2004 and drill several appraisal and exploratory wells in 2005 while formulating plans for development infrastructure in the area.
The Ayazli-1 discovery supports Toreador's previous estimate of potential reserves in the South Akcakoca area of approximately 350 billion cubic feet of natural gas based on available information. Drilling costs for the Ayazli-1 well increased from the company's estimated $4.5 million to about $7.0 million due to inclement weather offshore, difficult drilling conditions in the formations below the gas-producing zones and a longer testing period than planned.
"The success of the Ayazli-1 well validates our technological assessment that this shelf-edge play in the Black Sea offers outstanding potential for further exploration and development," said G. Thomas Graves III, Toreador President and Chief Executive Officer. "The well is in proximity to a major Turkish industrial center, which makes the Ayazli
discovery even more important economically and provides a ready market for the gas. This is the first well drilled in the Turkish Black Sea in five years. The achievement is quite gratifying - for