PREMIER ACQUIRES EXPLORATION BLOCK IN SOUTHERN CHINA

Premier Consolidated Oilfields plc, London, has won exploration rights to the Nanpanjiang block in southern China's Hunan, Guangxi and Guizhou provinces. Premier's contract with China National Oil & Gas Exploration & Development Corp. gives it an initial 12 months exclusive rights to survey the 32,000 sq mile block. The company can then sign a production sharing contract covering all or part of the area. Premier said the block contains one of the largest onshore sedimentary basins in

May 31, 1993

Premier Consolidated Oilfields plc, London, has won exploration rights to the Nanpanjiang block in southern China's Hunan, Guangxi and Guizhou provinces.

Premier's contract with China National Oil & Gas Exploration & Development Corp. gives it an initial 12 months exclusive rights to survey the 32,000 sq mile block. The company can then sign a production sharing contract covering all or part of the area.

Premier said the block contains one of the largest onshore sedimentary basins in China, producing 2,000 b/d of oil from the Baise Tertiary basin, which is excluded from Premier's license.

China Oil & Gas Corp. surveyed the area extensively in the 1970s, identifying many oil and gas seeps from Mesozoic and Paleozoic sediments.

"However, because of its immense size, equivalent to some 400 U.K. North Sea blocks, the exploration potential has been largely undetermined," Premier said.

Chinese officials said their country's southern provinces are hungry for energy, providing an immediate market for oil and gas discoveries.