Swedish Lundin fails to find oil in its first Sudanese well

March 10, 2008 (STOCKHOLM) — Swedish oil explorer, Lundin Petroleum AB, said today it will abandon a well in Sudan’s oil Muglad Basin in Block 5B as no oil shows were recorded during the drilling operations.

The Swedish oil firm announced on Monday that “well Nyal-1, drilled on the Nyal prospect, reached Total Depth at 2,363 metres and will be plugged and abandoned as a dry hole.

Lundin added that minor gas shows were encountered from 1,475 metres.

Lundin Petroleum AB had started drilling operations in well Nyal-1 on February 7, 2008. The well is located in the “dry land” area of the block.

The well is the first of a four wells to be drilled in Block 5B during 2008. The next two wells are targeted on the eastern flank of the basin, in the swamp. The first of these wells, Wan Machar-1 (formerly Umm Dandalo), is scheduled to spud in the beginning of March.

Following the announcement of its failure to find oil in the Sudanese well, Lundin dropped 3.2% to 75.5 Kronor (12,39 USD) in Stockholm trading. That’s the lowest since Feb. 21 and values the Stockholm-based company at 23.8 billion kronor ($3.89 billion).

The partners in Block 5B are Petronas Carigali White Nile (5B) Ltd (“Petronas”) (39%), Lundin Petroleum (24.5%), ONGC Videsh Ltd (23.5%) and Sudapet Ltd (13%).

Furthermore, the partnership has accepted the recommendation of the National Petroleum Commission to assign a 10 percent share to the National Oil Company of Southern Sudan to be allocated on a “pro rata” basis from each of the partners’ shares.

The operator of Block 5B is White Nile Petroleum Operating Company (WNPOC) a joint venture between Sudapet Ltd and Petronas.

(ST)