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Gold/Mining/Energy : Swift Energy (SFY) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rich Wolf who wrote (1153)	9/5/2000 8:38:48 AM
From: Robert T. Quasius	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 1602

Here's the news release. Reading between the lines, Swift management is optimistic, though perhaps not as much as Bligh. We'll see the price action today. biz.yahoo.com Swift Energy Announces Rimu-B1 Delineation Well in New Zealand to Be Cased And Tested HOUSTON, Sept. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Swift Energy Company (NYSE: SFY; PCX) reported today that its New Zealand delineation well in the Taranaki Basin, the Rimu-B1, has been drilled to a total depth of 13,449 feet (4,099 meters), and a decision has been made to run production casing in the well. Various electric logs and other diagnostic tests are expected to be run in the well. Once production casing is set, the well may be drilled further to evaluate a prospective Cretaceous sandstone structure just below 14,000 feet (4267 meters). It is currently anticipated that one or more potential horizons will be tested in this well over the next several weeks. The commercial importance of this particular well cannot be determined at this early stage of the completion process. Several significant hydrocarbon shows have been encountered at various intervals that could contain hydrocarbons in economic quantities. The Rimu-B1 penetrated numerous potentially productive formations. The well appears to have penetrated the Upper Tariki sandstone at approximately 11,323 feet (3,451 meters). Sidewall cores confirm hydrocarbons at this level. It is the Company's interpretation that part of the Upper Tariki section, equivalent to the Upper Tariki found in the Rimu-A1, is faulted out in this well, and that a full Upper Tariki section should be present in close proximity. Additionally, the well encountered the Rimu limestone with hydrocarbon shows at a depth of 11,486 feet (3,501 meters). The well was subsequently drilled through approximately 1,640 feet (500 meters) of Murihiku metasediments and encountered hydrocarbon shows through much of this interval. A drilling break at a depth of 13,219 feet (4,029 meters) encountered sands that contained hydrocarbon shows and flowed free oil and gas to the surface with the well flaring excess hydrocarbons while well control measures were implemented to continue drilling operations. This section appears to be the Lower Tariki that was encountered in the Rimu-A1 well. The Rimu limestone was again encountered in the well at 13,396 feet (4,083 meters). Correlations with the Rimu-A1 well, 1.46 miles (2.4 kilometers) to the north, suggest that the zone penetrated and flaring in the Rimu-B1 is correlative with the lower of the two Tariki reservoir sections encountered in the Rimu-A1. This zone is developed in the Rimu-B1 well at an elevation of 272 feet (83 meters) high to the Rimu-A1 well. Production testing of the various horizons will be conducted as part of the appraisal process. Upon the completion of drilling and initial testing of the Rimu-B1, the rig will be skidded approximately twenty feet and a second delineation well will be drilled on the same pad. The Rimu-B2 well will be targeted to test both the Upper and Lower Tariki intervals down-dip and northwest of the Rimu-B1 well but up-dip from the Rimu-A1 well. Additionally, it may be drilled deep enough to test a prospective Cretaceous interval approximately 660 feet (201 meters) below the lower section of Rimu limestone. Subsequent sustained testing of Rimu-B1 will be completed following the drilling of this second delineation well. Additionally, a velocity check-shot will be acquired in the Rimu-B1 well in order to enhance the interpretation of the recently acquired seismic data to better define the relationship between the Rimu and Kauri structures. It is anticipated that a surface location will be determined in the near future for an exploration test of the Kauri structure that will be drilled later this year or early in 2001. Extended production testing of the B1 well, and the B2 well if successful, will be conducted following the drilling of the Rimu-B2. It is anticipated that initial production from the field will begin during the first half of 2001. Swift Energy New Zealand Ltd., as operator, completed the drilling of the Rimu-A1 discovery well in October of 1999. Swift Energy holds a 90% interest in the permit on which this well was drilled, which covers 100,652 net acres extending both onshore and offshore on the western coast of the northern island of New Zealand. Antrim Oil & Gas, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Calgary-based Antrim Energy, Inc. (CDNX: AEN - news), and Marabella Enterprises Ltd., a subsidiary of Brisbane-based Bligh Oil and Minerals Ltd. (ASX: BLO), each hold a 5% interest. Terry Swift, President of Swift Energy Company, noted that, ``The early results of the Rimu-B1 well confirm the presence of hydrocarbons in the equivalent formations encountered in the Rimu-A1 discovery well, and that structural gain continues to the south towards the major Kauri structure from the Rimu-A1 well. We believe that the Rimu and Kauri structures may be connected. The Rimu discovery is part of a large permit area where we expect continued development as well as further exploration related to other previously announced prospective areas. We are delighted with the early information from this well.''