Murphy Oil Announces Results of Drilling Wells Offshore Republic of the Congo
EL DORADO, Ark., Jan 06, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) announced today the results of its recent Republic of the Congo drilling campaign in the Mer Profonde Sud permit.
The Cobalt Marine #1 exploration well and the Turquoise Marine #3 well both failed to find commercial quantities of hydrocarbons. The Turquoise Marine #4 did find well developed deeper reservoirs with a minor accumulation of oil. All three wells were operated by Murphy West Africa, Ltd. at a 58.82% working interest and were plugged and abandoned. The total net cost of the program is estimated at $36 million and will be expensed in the fourth quarter of 2010.
David M. Wood, Murphy's President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "Our aim with this three well program was to delineate the area around the Turquoise Marine #1 oil discovery and prove up standalone volumes. These results, while disappointing, will lead us to look into a tie-back to Azurite development option more closely. We continue to evaluate our exploration program in Republic of the Congo and are pleased to be nearing final conclusion on improved fiscal terms."
This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.These statements, which express management's current views concerning future events or results, are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties.Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the volatility and level of crude oil and natural gas prices, the level and success rate of our exploration programs, our ability to maintain production rates and replace reserves, political and regulatory instability, and uncontrollable natural hazards.For further discussion of risk factors, see Murphy's 2009 Annual Report on Form 10-K on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.Murphy undertakes no duty to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.
SOURCE: Murphy Oil Corporation
Murphy Oil Corporation Barry Jeffery, 870-864-6501