Roc acquires Option

RNS Number:9267K
Roc Oil Company Limited
12 April 2005




12 April 2005

                         ROC OIL COMPANY LIMITED ("ROC")
                             STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE

                  ROC ACQUIRES OPTION OVER THE BEETALOO BASIN,
                         NORTHERN TERRITORY, AUSTRALIA

KEY POINT

   * ROC has purchased an option over up to 87.5% interest in four
     exploration permits in the onshore Beetaloo Basin in Australia's Northern
     Territory.

1. THE TRANSACTION

As a result of an Option Agreement ("the Option") entered into between ROC and
Sweetpea Petroleum Corporation Pty Ltd, a private Australian company affiliated
with two privately-owned US companies, ROC is entitled to acquire up to 87.5% of
each of four exploration permits - EPs 76; 98; 99 and (A)117 - which cover about
7 million acres/28,000sqkm, representing most of the Beetaloo Basin in the
Northern Territory, approximately 500km southeast of Darwin (Attachment 1).

The Option Agreement runs to mid-June 2005 during which time ROC will review the
petroleum prospectivity of the area and decide whether it wishes to exercise its
entitlement.

If ROC exercises the Option, the final equity which the Company will acquire in
each of the four permits will be determined by the magnitude of a seismic and
drilling programme that would be operated and 100% funded by ROC during the next
two or three years. As a result of fulfilling a minimum work programme,
consisting of 330km of 2D seismic and an exploration well, ROC will earn a 50%
interest in three of the permits and a 75% interest in the fourth permit in
which the well is drilled. The preliminary cost estimate for such a programme is
A$3 to 4 million. The Option provides ROC with the right to earn further
interests in all four permits by operating and funding up to seven additional
wells.

In consideration for the Option, ROC has paid approximately US$50,000 to
Sweetpea as a partial reimbursement of the company's past costs. If the Option
is exercised and the farmin fully completed Sweetpea will retain a 12.5% working
interest in each of the four permits plus a 5% overriding royalty.

The Option is subject to normal industry terms and conditions.

2. THE BEETALOO BASIN

The Beetaloo Basin covers approximately 8.8 million acres/35,600sqkm and is
barely explored.

The basin contains more than 3,000m of Precambrian and younger sediments
including several thick, rich source rock intervals, the richest of which has
reportedly more than 100m of black, generally oil-prone, shale with a total
organic carbon content (TOC) which typically ranges from 4 to 7% but which can
be as high as 12%. Three thick sandstone sequences also occur within the basin
which may represent potential reserves interbedded with the source rock
intervals. Large, untested structural leads are also thought to be present.

Within the basin there is only about 2,700km of 2D seismic and 11 wells. Most of
the wells are stratigraphic tests, drilled during the late-'80s to early-'90s by
the petroleum arm of a large mining company. Few, if any, of the wells were
located with reference to seismically defined structural closures. Nevertheless,
oil shows have been reported in several of these holes and free oil has been
reportedly recovered on test.

International oil producing areas which are considered to be broad analogues to
the Beetaloo Basin exist in North America, eastern Siberia and the Middle East.

3. CEO'S COMMENTS

Commenting on the transaction, ROC's Chief Executive Officer, Dr John Doran
stated that:

"In a number of ways this transaction is a typical ROC deal. It is a series of
low cost options, with a private company, run by knowledgeable industry people
with whom we feel comfortable. It relates to an area which most industry
participants would consider unfashionable and an opportunity which has been
sourced through our industry contacts. The upside potential is large but, as
yet, unproven, because, despite appearing to have the ingredients for the
generation and entrapment of oil, the area is, for all practical purposes,
barely explored.

Quite a few things have changed during the 12 or more years that have passed
since the last time there was a serious attempt to look for oil in the Beetaloo
Basin. Substantial infrastructure has been established in the form of a much
improved road link and a new rail line to Darwin; new gas pipelines have been
constructed; Aboriginal land right agreements have been executed - and oil is no
longer US$12/BBL.

In some parts of the world the seven million acres involved in the transaction
would, perhaps, impress; but, in Australia we have a healthy cynicism about such
things and fully realise that a big, pure exploration acreage position is, not
in itself, of any immediate value - although it does come in handy when a
discovery is made."

Bruce Clement                            For further information please contact:
Chief Operating Officer                                         Dr John Doran on
                                                            Tel: +61-2-8356-2000
                                                            Fax: +61-2-9380-2635
                                                     Email: jdoran@rocoil.com.au
                                                         Or visit ROC's website:
                                                               www.rocoil.com.au
 

                                                                   Dr Kevin Hird
                                            General Manager Business Development
                                                       Tel:  +44 (0)207 586 7935
                                                       Fax:  +44 (0)207 722 3919
                                                     Email:  khird@rocoil.com.au

                                                                    Nick Lambert
                                            Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial
                                                       Tel:  +44 (0)207 861 3232




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