AWE remains on track to produce 10 million barrels of oil in the first year of production from the Tui Area Oil Project (AWE 42.5%), off New Zealand's Taranaki coast. Up to the end of October, the project has produced approximately 3.5 million barrels of oil, confirming the production target of 10 million barrels in the June 2008 financial year.

Tui oil production for the quarter was approximately 2.4 million barrels (AWE share approximately 1.0 million barrels) or an average rate of 38,500 bopd for the 62 productive days in the period during the commissioning phase. Oil production from the Tui project began on July 30, 2007.

Tui production is continuing uninterrupted despite investigations into the discharge of oil contaminated water from the offshore production vessel, Umuroa, early on Sunday morning, October 21, 2007.

The start of production from the Tui project was the highlight of AWE's September quarter in which the company produced a record of 2.1 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in the quarter, an increase of 95% on the previous quarter.

Tui area production complemented strong gas output from the Casino gas project (AWE 25%) where gross production averaged 134 Terajoules (TJ) per day, significantly above the originally contracted levels.

Production from the Casino project will be enhanced by the future development of the Henry gas project (AWE 25%) for which Front End Engineering and Design work is now complete.

AWE's September quarter output was also boosted by a strong performance from the Cliff Head oil project (AWE 27.5%) where gross production in the quarter averaged approximately 8,800 barrels of oil per day (bopd), with September monthly production reaching a record of 11,200 bopd.

Gas and liquids production from the BassGas project (AWE 30%) achieved design throughput rates.