(Oslo, May 29, 2008) InterOil has started the enhanced oil recovery (fracturing) campaign in Colombia, and has just finished the first well; Mana 10, with a very good result. Two sections of the well were fractured, and the production is now 450 bopd, an increase of almost 3 times. This is much higher than the forecasted 80 bopd.
- We are very excited about the first result from the fracturing campaign in Colombia. The initial production is much higher than expected and this indicates that we can increase our production significantly with lower costs than drilling new wells. We are confident that the 10 wells fracturing campaign will increase our production considerably in the month to come, says Nils N. Trulsvik, CEO of InterOil E&P ASA.
InterOil has now started the fracturing of the second well and will fracture another 9 wells back to back over the next three months. The costs of fracturing these wells are approximately USD 350 thousand per well, compared to approximate average drilling costs of USD 1.1 million for new wells in Colombia.
In addition to the fracturing, InterOil will start drilling of 8 shallow and 3 deeper wells on the Mana and Toqui Toqui license in Colombia with two drilling rigs in the middle of June this year.
In Peru our most interesting well this year, in the new La Isla region (South in Block III), was spudded this week. Drilling is expected to be finished end June.
For more information please contact:
Fredrik von Zernichow
Investor Relation Manager
Tel: +47 67518661
Mob: +47 99273843
Fax: +47 6751 8660
E-mail: f.zernichow@interoil.no
***************************
InterOil Exploration & Production ASA is a Norwegian based exploration and production company - listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange - with focus on Latin-America and West-Africa. The company is operator of several production and exploration assets in Peru and Colombia, and is an active license partner in Angola and Ghana. InterOil currently employs approximately 200 people and is headquartered in Oslo.