Aurelian Oil & Gas PLC announces that the Trzek-1 well, drilled by its Polish subsidiary Energia Zachod Sp. z o.o., has reached a total depth of 3,935 metres within the Rotliegendes Formation.

Good gas shows were recorded during the drilling of the topmost 89 metres of the Rotliegendes sandstone and two cores were taken within this reservoir section. Electric logs have now been run and indicate good gas saturations in a continuous sandstone sequence over this interval. Porosities are fair to moderate, possibly slightly better than forecast, and permeabilities, although relatively low, are in line with the expectations resulting from the studies conducted by Aurelian on the earlier wells drilled into the Siekierki structure by the Polish state company during the 1970s/1980s.

The Trzek-1 well was designed as a modern well to evaluate the three Siekierki wells and Plawce-1 which were drilled in the 1970s/1980s to test the Rotliegendes Formation along a large structural trend. These wells experienced immense operational difficulties and there is good evidence to show that the Rotliegendes sandstone reservoir, when encountered, was severely damaged by the delays and the inferior quality of the drilling mud employed. Although there was evidence of gas in all the wells, the electric logs were poor in quality and inadequate for a proper evaluation of the reservoir. Furthermore, because of the sub-standard mud quality and the relatively low permeability of the reservoir, commercial flows of gas were not able to be achieved at that time.

As originally planned, the Nafta Pila drilling rig will now be released and a fraccing crew brought in to conduct a test of the interval. This will probably take place over approximately a 2-week interval in September. Further announcements will be made when this testing is complete.

Energia Zachod Sp. z o.o. is a 90% subsidiary of Aurelian, with the remaining 10% by held by Avobone S.A.

Michael Seymour, Managing Director of Aurelian, commented, "The confirmation of a substantial gas column in Trzek-1 is very good news and we are hopeful that, with effective modern fraccing technology, commercially sustainable flow rates of gas can be achieved when we return in September. In addition, plans are already being discussed for a 3-D seismic survey which we would hope to commence before the end of the year (subject to crew availability) to evaluate in more detail this extensive Siekierki structural trend."