Exploration / Appraisal

In line with our business plan, Cobalt has quickly built an enviable position in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, one of the world’s most prolific deepwater hydrocarbon basins, and in deep water offshore West Africa through our acreage position in Gabon and Angola, an area where we have vast experience in hydrocarbon exploration, development and production.

Similar to our aggressive acreage acquisition plan, we are moving rapidly to prove the prospectivity of our portfolio through the execution of a focused drilling program in both our operated and non-operated leases.

On February 2, 2009, Cobalt announced the successful drilling of our first well in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico and the discovery of the Heidelberg Field. This was followed two days later by the announcement that the Shenandoah prospect, Cobalt’s second well in its history, was also a success.

Heidelberg (Cobalt working interest of 9.375%) was drilled in Green Canyon block 859 in approximately 5,000 feet of water and operated by Anadarko using the ‘Amos Runner’ rig. The discovery well encountered more than 200 feet of high quality Miocene aged reservoir sands and was drilled to a total depth of 30,000 feet. We anticipate appraisal drilling to occur on Heidelberg in 2011. Heidelberg lies immediately adjacent to five 45% Cobalt working interest leases (Ligurian Prospect) and is in the same basin as the Tahiti, Caesar and Tonga Fields.
Press Release

Shenandoah (Cobalt working interest of 20%), an inboard Lower Tertiary discovery, was drilled in Walker Ridge block 52, in approximately 5,750 feet of water. The discovery well was drilled to a total depth of 30,000 feet and encountered approximately 300 feet of high quality Lower Tertiary reservoir sands.

The inboard Lower Tertiary reservoirs are older and deeper than the overlying Miocene reservoirs commonly found and developed in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The quality of the reservoirs in Shenandoah was unusually high confirming Cobalt’s pre-drill predictions of Shenandoah being a superior prospect to previous Lower Tertiary discoveries in wells to the south-east. This result significantly enhances both our understanding of the emerging inboard Lower Tertiary trend and the potential value of our portfolio.
Press Release
Shenandoah Area Map