Petroceltic International (Petroceltic) says that a Letter of Intent (LOI) has been signed with German drilling contractor KCA Deutag (KCA) for their Nomad class drilling rig "T-212". The LOI authorises KCA to immediately mobilize the rig from Germany to the Isarene permit (Petroceltic 75% interest & Operator) in Algeria, for a seven well drilling and testing programme.

The T-212 rig is a new drilling unit, and is scheduled to be on location ready to commence drilling in March 2009. This will be KCA' s second drilling rig in Algeria, the first, T-211, was until recently working for BP in the Illizi basin, on a block adjacent to the Isarene permit.

Petroceltic's seven well drilling programme is expected to take approximately 9-10 months and will focus on appraising gas and oil discoveries already made on the Isarene permit by Petroceltic and previous operators and will be funded from the proceeds of the share subscription announced in June this year.

Petroceltic has a 75 per cent interest in the Isarene permit in association with Sonatrach, the Algerian state Oil and Gas Company, which holds the remaining 25 per cent.

John Craven CEO of Petroceltic commented, "Securing this modern rig with KCA Deutag represents an important step in the execution of our strategy to maximise and commercialize potential resources on this permit. We are integrating results from the new 3D seismic to delineate areas of optimum reservoir quality for drilling. With the beginning of the drilling and testing operations, we look forward to an exciting period of operational results over the next twelve months."

Tags: KCA DEUTAG, Petroceltic International plc