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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Redman who wrote (5254)	12/15/1997 5:21:00 PM
From: BL	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

Monday December 15, 4:00 pm Eastern Time Company Press Release SOURCE: Union Pacific Resources Group Inc. UPR Announces Rig Agreements and Seismic Acquisition Signaling Commitment to Deep Water Drilling FORT WORTH, Texas, Dec. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Union Pacific Resources Group Inc. (NYSE: UPR - news) today announced that it has signed a letter of intent to enter into a $150 million five year agreement with Noble Drilling (U.S.) Inc. for the services of a semisubmersible drilling rig designed for operations in water depths up to 5,000 feet. UPR will share the rig on a 50/50 basis with Amerada Hess Corporation (NYSE: AHC - news). In other deep water Gulf of Mexico activity, UPR expects to begin drilling a second well on its Gomez discovery in January and has purchased 3-D seismic data on tracts covering six million deep water acres. ''With these actions, UPR significantly strengthens our presence in the deep water Gulf of Mexico where we intend to be active for many years to come,'' said Jack L. Messman, Chairman and CEO of UPR. ''When completed, UPR's $150 million commitment to this rig, combined with the capital we plan to invest to develop our 100 percent owned Gomez prospect, makes our potential capital commitment to the Gomez area in excess of $500 million.'' The Noble Max Smith rig, which will become available in July 1999, will be used by UPR to continue development of the Company's Gomez prospect located in Mississippi Canyon Block 755. The initial Gomez discovery well finished drilling in October 1997 and has proved reserves of 20-25 million barrels of oil (MMBO). Probable reserves for the entire prospect, which consists of 20 contiguous offshore blocks totaling 115,000 acres, are estimated at 100-140 MMBO. In addition to the letter of intent with Noble, UPR said it has entered into an agreement with Elf Exploration, Inc. to use the Glomar Celtic Sea rig to begin development drilling of its Gomez discovery. UPR plans to begin drilling the second Gomez well during January and the third Gomez well will commence in the second half of 1998 subject to rig availability. ''The initiatives we are taking with Noble Drilling, Amerada Hess and Elf are integral to our 'drilling machine' business model in the Gulf of Mexico. Our people are increasing UPR's momentum in the deep water,'' said George Lindahl III, President and COO of UPR. UPR has also announced an agreement with Western Geophysical to purchase speculative 3-D seismic data covering approximately 1,000 offshore blocks in the deep water offshore. The agreement, which calls for UPR to receive the data over a three year period, covers almost six million acres of deep water leases. ''This seismic commitment combined with the arrangements entered into for the drilling rigs is an indication of how firmly UPR is committed to the deep water. This seismic area is almost the size of our entire Land Grant in southwest Wyoming,'' Lindahl said. Union Pacific Resources is one of the nation's largest domestic independent oil and gas exploration and production companies. Based in Fort Worth, Texas, UPR has been the #1 domestic driller for the past 5 years. This press release, other than historical financial information, contains forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties including planned construction and drilling activity, estimated reserves and budgeted capital expenditures and other risks and uncertainties detailed in the Company's SEC reports, including the report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 1997. Actual results may vary materially. SOURCE: Union Pacific Resources Group Inc.