Minister Comments on Hunt/PanCanadian's Intention To Drill St. George's Bay A-36 well

Rex Gibbons, Minister of Natural Resources, said he is pleased with today's announcement by Hunt Oil Company and PanCanadian Petroleum Limited that they intend to drill the St. George's Bay A-36 well offshore. "This is a further indication of the oil and gas industry's interest in western Newfoundland and I hope that a significant discovery of hydrocarbons will be made," the minister said.

Hunt, which acquired the offshore licence on which the well will be drilled, five years ago, has been exploring with its partner PanCanadian, the Port au Port Peninsula, through a permit acquired in 1993.

"Hunt and PanCanadian have acquired seismic data both onshore and offshore Port au Port," the minister said, "and this has provided a basis for them to drill the Port au Port #1 and Long Point #1 wells from onshore locations." "This data has also provided a prospect offshore which will now be evaluated by the drilling of the St. George's Bay A-36 well."

The minister noted that St. George's Bay A-36 will mark the first time that a jackup drilling unit will be used to drill a well in the Newfoundland offshore. "This announcement and the fact that significant amounts of new seismic data are being collected in western Newfoundland means that the exploration momentum is being maintained," the minister said. "Indeed, I hope that the industry will continue to build on the momentum already achieved and that the current onshore Request for Bids, which closes on March 22 will be successful," the minister concluded.

Contact: Rex Gibbons, Minister, (709) 729-2920.