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Gold/Mining/Energy : Lundin Oil (LOILY, LOILB Sweden) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Greywolf who wrote (957)	3/26/1999 9:10:00 AM
From: Tomas	Respond to of 2742

Libya: "All obstacles have been cleared away", sanctions to be suspended once the two suspects arrive for trial Envoy Says Libya Suspect Deal Set By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press Writer UNITED NATIONS (AP) March 25 - Saudi Arabia's U.S. ambassador, who helped negotiate Libya's acceptance of a deal to try two suspects in the Lockerbie bombing, said all obstacles have been cleared away for their handover by April 6. ''I think it's a win-win situation for everybody,'' Prince Bandar bin Sultan said Thursday. ''We're relieving the suffering of the Libyan people and we're also seeing justice being done for the families of the victims.'' Bandar spoke to reporters after briefing Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the five permanent members of the Security Council on his trip to Libya last week with South African President Nelson Mandela that resulted in Libya's announcement that the two suspects would be turned over for trial in the Netherlands. ''It was announced that it will definitely be by April 6 and that still stands,'' the Saudi ambassador said. ''I am not aware of any problems at this stage.'' The 15-member Security Council on Tuesday repeated its intention to suspend sanctions once the two arrive for trial and to lift them entirely ''as soon as circumstances permit.''

To: Greywolf who wrote (957)	4/9/1999 7:45:00 PM
From: Tomas	Respond to of 2742

The Falklands: The first phase of oil exploration Desire Petroleum: final results, April 9 Chairman's statement (extracts): The first phase of exploration drilling in the North Falkland Basin, which began in April 1998, was completed with the Shell well 14/10-1, which was the sixth well drilled. The drilling rig "Borgny Dolphin" has now left the Falklands. This intensive drilling campaign has produced a considerable amount of data which are now the subject of analysis by all of the companies involved. Although no economic accumulations of hydrocarbons were discovered, the campaign demonstrated the existence of extensive, high- quality, hydrocarbon source rocks and good oil shows were encountered in four of the wells. The studies now underway are focused on identifying potential structures with good reservoir development in which the oil generated might be trapped. A fuller technical review is given in the Exploration Report and I will not repeat it here, however, it is worth repeating that all of the factors required for the presence of hydrocarbon accumulations are present in the North Falkland Basin and many prospects remain to be tested. Unfortunately, overshadowing these prospects is the current, historically-low oil price. This has caused a major reduction in exploration drilling throughout the World and the North Falkland Basin is no exception to this. Additionally, many exploration companies have had to reduce their financial exposures and this has led Desire's partners in the Lasmo Consortium in Tranches C and D to decide to withdraw from the Licences. As a result, Desire will take over 100% of these Tranches and operate them. When this process is completed, Desire will hold 100% of Tranches C, D, I and L and 12.5% of Tranche F, of which Sodra is the operator. The processing of the 2,412 kilometres of new seismic acquired on Tranches I and L has been completed and these data are now being interpreted. The results of this interpretation should be available in the next few months. The company's cash position remains healthy, although there are several substantial costs still outstanding from the drilling programmes. The structures that were clearly seen on the pre-lease data have been confirmed, and the evidence suggests that the structural failure and subsidence of the Basin was swift and relatively passive. Post-subsidence tectonism has been at a minimum. Much of the basin may lie outside the oil maturity threshold but this does not preclude the migration of hydrocarbons to shallower parts of the Basin if suitable migration paths existed. The main concern that Desire had before drilling, that suitable reservoirs would be at a premium, has been found to be the case, although they are not absent and there is good reason to believe that, southwards towards Tranches I and L, their development may well improve. Thus the Basin contains structures, source and reservoir, the necessary components of a hydrocarbon province but the successful combination of these ingredients remains to be found. Further south from the area of drilling, Desire completed its commitment seismic and ancillary geophysical work in Tranches I and L. 2,412 kilometres of seismic were shot, together with accompanying gravity and magnetic data, and these are now being interpreted. The data are of high quality and will form an important basis for launching a second phase of exploration when the time comes. The work has confirmed that structures are more numerous than further north and it may be that reservoir rocks are also more common. There may also be locally-developed source rocks. Thus, at the end of the first cycle of exploration in the North Falkland Basin, from knowing something of the structure of the Basin and little of the hydrocarbon potential, it is now clear that structures are present, as are reservoirs and source rocks. Hydrocarbons have been generated but commercial accumulations have yet to be discovered. Considering the size of the total area, tremendous strides in knowledge and understanding have been made and many prospects remain to be tested. This applies both to individual prospects and to whole categories of prospect, e.g. the entire eastern flank of the Basin remains undrilled. These all await future investigation. Desire has placed itself in a good position, both in building up an extensive data base and acquiring a dominant land holding, to take advantage of the next cycle of interest in Falkland exploration.