C.A.T. oil AG puts additional fracturing fleet into operation
- Nine active fleets now in operation in the hydraulic fracturing core business - First contributions to sales from end of Q2 2006 onwards - Delivery of equipment for three additional fleets
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July 20, 2006 - Austria-based C.A.T. oil AG (O2C, ISIN: AT0000A00Y78), one of the leading providers of oilfield services in Russia and Kazakhstan, has started to operate one used fracturing fleet that was acquired during the first quarter of 2006 following its entire technical overhaul. This brings the number of fracturing fleets currently in use by the company to nine. Since being deployed, the new fleet has been operating in an oilfield of one of the major customers of C.A.T.oil, where it is now stationed permanently. This additional capacity has enabled C.A.T.oil to extend its contract with this customer for further 14 fracturing jobs to be performed in the month of July 2006. The new fleet has therefore contributed to group sales since the end of the second quarter. Also C.A.T.oil expects to perform more jobs in the future than have been contracted to date. Overall, the number of fracturing jobs in the second quarter was very satisfying. Not least to its new active fleet and based on current perception, C.A.T.oil performed the highest number of fracturing jobs per quarter in the entire history of the company between April and June 2006. The company plans to release its second quarter results at the end of August. The new fleet is providing services in C.A.T.oils core business of hydraulic fracturing. Among other equipment, the fleet comprises five pumping units which the company uses to pump liquids under high pressure into the oil- and gas-bearing rock formations. This process fractures the rocks and enables a sustained increase in the well flow rate and output. Before the used fleet could be put into operation, extensive servicing and modifications were carried out to tailor it to the special requirements of C.A.T. oil AG. Because the company is principally active in the severe weather conditions of Western and Eastern Siberia, all fleets deployed have to meet highest technical requirements and be extremely flexible and robust. As already announced, the company has ordered three additional new fleets. Equipment for these fleets is currently being delivered to C.A.T.oils maintenance facilities in Western Siberia. Manfred Kastner, CEO of C.A.T.oil AG, said: "Demand for our services is constantly growing. Thanks to our newly commissioned fleet and the three additional fleets that will boost our capacity this year, we are in a very good position to meet this high demand. This expansion of our capacity will make a lasting contribution to growth as early as 2006." www.catoilag.com
About C.A.T. oil AG: Austria-based C.A.T. oil AG (O2C, ISIN: AT0000A00Y78) is one of the leading providers of oilfield services in Russia and Kazakhstan. C.A.T.oils core business is hydraulic fracturing, a process which helps to open up oil- and gas-bearing rock formations in order to increase or even enable oil and gas production. The C.A.T.oil crews use state-of-the-art methods and technologies to generate high pressure in the oil or gas reservoirs concerned. This pressure causes cracks to appear in the rock through which oil or gas can be produced in larger quantities from the production well, and hence efficiently boosts extraction, particularly in the case of deposits that are difficult to develop or low-output wells. In addition, hydraulic fracturing can be used to revitalize wells that have previously been idle. The company has its headquarters in Baden near Vienna and employed 2,230 people at the end of 2005, most of whom are based in Russia and Kazakhstan. Customers include leading oil and gas producers such as Gazprom, KazMunaiGaz, LUKOIL, Rosneft, and TNK-BP. www.catoilag.com
end of announcement euro adhoc 20.07.2006 12:15:00
Further inquiry note:
Press contact:
A&B Financial Dynamics
Dr. Lutz Golsch Claudia Werth
phone.: +49 (0)69 92037-110 phone.: +49 (0)69 92037-114
e-mail: l.golsch@abfd.de e-mail: c.werth@abfd.de
Branche: Oil & Gas - Upstream activities
ISIN: AT0000A00Y78
WKN: A0IKWU
Börsen: Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse / official dealing