CALGARY, ALBERTA — (Marketwire) — 03/21/13 — Kulczyk Oil Ventures Inc. (WARSAW: KOV) (“Kulczyk Oil”, “KOV” or the “Company”), an international upstream oil and gas company, is very pleased to announce substantial growth in its Reserves volumes and in the estimated value for its Reserves located in Ukraine.
Total Reserves (3P) were up 84.8% and 2P Reserves were up 30% during 2012 while the NPV of the 2P Reserves increased 58% to $257.5 million when compared to their value at the end of 2011.
The Company–s Ukraine assets were evaluated, with an effective date of 31 December 2012, by independent reserve engineers RPS Energy Consultants Ltd. (“RPS”) in their report dated 20 March 2013 (the “RPS 2012 Ukraine Report”). Comparisons made to the prior year–s report refer to the evaluation of the same assets by RPS, effective as of 31 December 2011, in their report dated 26 March 2012 (the “RPS 2011 Ukraine Report”).
All of the Reserve, Prospective Resource and Contingent Resource volumes, as well as the net present values attributed to the Ukraine Reserves disclosed herein, refer to KOV–s 70% effective ownership interest in the assets through its 70% indirect ownership in KUB-Gas LLC (“KUB-Gas”), its majority-owned indirect subsidiary, which owns and operates four producing licences (Vergunskoye, Olgovskoye, Makeevskoye and Krutogorovskoye) near the City of Lugansk in northeast Ukraine.
Highlights
Tim Elliott, CEO of Kulczyk Oil, commented:
“2012 was a good year as we continued to reap the rewards of our hard work. While the increase in reserves and production is a direct result of the application of new technology and practices to our producing fields in Ukraine, the single biggest contributor to our increase in reserves has been exploration success. This should be kept in mind as we are about to commence our drilling program in Brunei where individual well targets contain prospective resources significantly larger than our current reserves and resources in Ukraine.
We are very pleased with the growth of our reserves and production in Ukraine. We continued to be successful with our drilling program in 2012 and increased our net production to more than 18.6 million cubic feet per day exiting December 2012 and our total reserves (3P) by more than 80% since the end of 2011 to 12.85 million boe. One of our goals in 2013 will be to get a significant portion of that 3P number re-categorized as a 1P and 2P number and of course find more!
I take this opportunity to thank everyone in the Kulczyk team and the KUB-Gas team for their hard work and dedication.”
Ukraine Reserves
The Company–s Ukraine assets were evaluated by RPS in accordance with the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook and presented in the RPS 2012 Ukraine Report. RPS is an independent qualified reserves evaluator and auditor. Estimates of future net revenue do not represent fair market value.
The percentage change in Reserves volumes for the year ended 31 December 2012 is shown in the table below. Increases in the Company–s Reserves resulted from a continuation of the Company–s successful drilling and development program in the Makeevskoye and Olgovskoye field areas in Ukraine. The RLI of the Company–s Reserves, calculated by dividing the Reserves at 31 December 2012 by the annualized production volumes as of that date, is 5.9 years for Proved + Probable (2P) Reserves and 10.7 years for Proved + Probable + Possible (3P) Reserves.
The future net revenue before income taxes and discounted at 10%, as evaluated in the RPS 2012 Ukraine Report and net to the 70% interest of KOV, is:
Ukraine Resources
The RPS 2012 Ukraine Report also evaluated the Prospective Resources and Contingent Resources attributable to the 70% interest of KOV in KUB-Gas and estimated total high case (3C) Contingent Resources at more than 126 Bcf and total un-risked high case (High Estimate) Prospective Resources at more than 205 Bcf as summarized in the following table:
There is no certainty that it will be commercially viable to produce any portion of the Contingent Resources. There is no certainty that any portion of the Prospective Resources will be discovered. If discovered, there is no certainty that it will be commercially viable to produce any portion of the Prospective Resources.
Oil and Gas Equivalents
Production information is commonly reported in units of barrel of oil equivalent (“boe” or “Mboe” or “MMboe”) or in units of natural gas equivalent (“Mcfe” or (“MMcfe” or (“Bcfe”). However, boe–s or Mcfe–s may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A boe conversion ratio of 6 Mcf = 1 barrel, or a Mcfe conversion ratio of 1 barrel = 6 Mcf, is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead.
The Company–s “Statement Of Reserves Data And Other Oil And Gas Information”, (Form 51-101F1) was filed with regulatory authorities in Canada () on 20 March 2013.
Defined Terms
“Reserves” are those quantities of petroleum anticipated to be commercially recoverable by application of development projects to known accumulations from a given date forward under defined conditions. Reserves must further satisfy four criteria: they must be discovered, recoverable, commercial, and remaining (as of the evaluation date) based on the development project(s) applied. Reserves are further categorized in accordance with the level of certainty associated with the estimates and may be sub- classified based on project maturity and/or characterized by development and production status.
“Proved Reserves” are those quantities of petroleum, which by analysis of geosciences and engineering data, can be estimated with reasonable certainty to be commercially recoverable, from a given date forward, from known reservoirs and under defined economic conditions, operating methods and government regulations.
“Probable Reserves” are those additional Reserves which analysis of geosciences and engineering data indicate are less likely to be recovered than Proved Reserves but more certain to be recovered than Possible Reserves.
“Possible Reserves” are those additional Reserves which analysis of geosciences and engineering data indicate are less likely to be recoverable than Probable Reserves. There is a 10% probability that the quantities actually recovered will equal or exceed the sum of proved plus probable plus possible Reserves.
“Contingent Resources” are those quantities of petroleum that are estimated, as of a given date, to be potentially recoverable from known accumulations using established technology or technology under development, but which are not yet considered mature enough for commercial development because of one or more contingencies. Contingencies may include factors such as economic, legal, environmental, political, and regulatory matters, or a lack of markets. Contingent Resources are further categorized into low case (1C), best case (2C) and high case (3C) according to the level of certainty associated with the estimates and may be sub-classified based on economic viability.
“Prospective Resources” are those quantities of petroleum estimated, as of a given date, to be potentially recoverable from undiscovered accumulations by application of future development projects. Prospective Resources have both an associated chance of discovery and a chance of development. Prospective Resources are further subdivided in accordance with the level of certainty associated with recoverable estimates assuming their discovery and development and may be sub-classified based on project maturity.
“Low Estimate” is considered to be a conservative estimate of the quantity that will actually be recovered. It is likely that the actual remaining quantities recovered will exceed the low estimate. If probabilistic methods are used, there should be at least a 90 percent probability (P90) that the quantities recovered will equal or exceed the low estimate.
“Best Estimate” is considered to be the best estimate of the quantity that will actually be recovered. It is likely that the actual remaining quantities recovered will be greater or less than the best estimate. If probabilistic methods are used, there should be a 50 percent probability (P50) that the quantities recovered will equal or exceed the best estimate.
“High Estimate” is considered to be an optimistic estimate of the quantity that will actually be recovered. It is unlikely that the actual remaining quantities recovered will exceed the high estimate. If probabilistic methods are used, there should be at least a 10 percent probability (P10) that the quantities recovered will equal or exceed the high estimate.
About Kulczyk Oil
Kulczyk Oil is an international upstream oil and gas exploration and production company with a diversified portfolio of projects in Ukraine, Brunei and Syria and with a risk profile ranging from exploration in Brunei and Syria to production and development in Ukraine. The common shares of the Company trade on the Warsaw Stock Exchange under trading symbol “KOV”.
In Ukraine, KOV owns an effective 70% interest in KUB-Gas LLC. The assets of KUB-Gas consist of 100% interests in five licences near to the City of Lugansk in the northeast part of Ukraine. Four of the licences are gas producing.
In Brunei, KOV owns a 90% working interest in a production sharing agreement which gives the Company the right to explore for and produce oil and natural gas from Block L, a 1,123 square kilometre area covering onshore and offshore areas in northern Brunei.
In Syria, KOV holds a participating interest of 50% in the Syria Block 9 production sharing contract which provides the right to explore for and, upon the satisfaction of certain conditions, to produce oil and gas from Block 9, a 10,032 square kilometre area in northwest Syria. The Company has an agreement to assign a 5% ownership interest to a third party which is subject to the approval of Syrian authorities, and which, if approved, would leave the Company with a remaining effective interest of 45% in Syria Block 9. KOV declared force majeure, with respect to its operations in Syria, in July 2012.
The main shareholder of the Company is Kulczyk Investments S.A., an international investment house founded by Polish businessman Dr. Jan Kulczyk.
For further information, please refer to the Kulczyk Oil website ().
Translation: This news release has been translated into Polish from the English original.
Forward-looking Statements This release may contain forward-looking statements made as of the date of this announcement with respect to future activities of KUB-Gas and related to its five licence areas in Ukraine and to certain wells drilled or seismic activities undertaken within those licence areas that either are not or may not be historical facts. Although the Company believes that its expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date hereof, any potential results suggested by such statements involve risk and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Various factors that could impair or prevent the Company from completing the expected activities on its projects include that the Company–s projects experience technical and mechanical problems, there are changes in product prices, failure to obtain regulatory approvals, the state of the national or international monetary, oil and gas, financial, political and economic markets in the jurisdictions where the Company operates and other risks not anticipated by the Company or disclosed in the Company–s published material. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties and actual results may vary materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statement. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements in this announcement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this announcement, unless required by law.
Canada
Suite 1170, 700-4th Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Telephone: +1-403-264-8877
Facsimile: +1-403-264-8861
Dubai
Al Shafar Investment Building, Suite 123, Shaikh Zayed Road,
Box 37174, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Telephone: +971-4-339-5212
Facsimile: +971-4-339-5174
Poland
Nowogrodzka 18/29
00-511 Warsaw, Poland
Telephone: +48 (22) 414 21 00
Contacts:
Kulczyk Oil Ventures Inc. – Canada
Norman W. Holton
Vice Chairman
+1-403-264-8877
Kulczyk Oil Ventures Inc. – Poland
Jakub J. Korczak
Vice President Investor Relations & Managing Director CEE
+48 22 414 21 00