Swedish Lundin starts exploration drilling of second well in Sudan’s Block

March 17, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — Swedish oil explorer, Lundin Petroleum AB, announced that exploration well Wan Machar-1 (previously Umm Dandalo) has spudded in Block 5B, Sudan, on March 14. The well is located in the swamp area of the block, on the eastern flank of the basin.

Earlier this month, the Swedish firm failed to find oil in its first Sudanese well Nyal-1. Wan Machar-1 well is the second of a four wells to be drilled in Block 5B during 2008. The current and the next wells are targeted on the eastern flank of the basin, in the swamp.

The well, with a planned depth of 1,700 metres, will target the Upper to Lower Cretaceous sandstone reservoirs that have proved highly productive in other producing fields in the Muglad Basin.

The gross unrisked recoverable prospective resource for the Wan Machar prospect is estimated at 1,542 million barrels of oil (mmbo).

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.

The exploration drilling was attended by GOSS minister of mining and industry, John Luc, Governor of Jonglei, Kuol Manyang and Commissioner of Ayod H.E Gabriel Duop Lam. Also members of the National Petroleum Commission, and federal ministry of energy and mining.

Ashley Heppenstall, President and CEO of Lundin Petroleum, said “Wan Machar is a world class exploration prospect which if successful will transform Lundin Petroleum. We remain optimistic on the overall prospectivity of the Muglad Basin and its extension into block 5B, an area of over 20,000 km2 which is virtually unexplored to date.”

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).

(ST)