Westech Energy New Zealand Begins Pre-Spud Operations On Taranaki Basin Offshore Well

Westech Energy New Zealand Begins Pre-Spud Operations On Taranaki Basin Offshore Well

New Plymouth, New Zealand (November 22, 2009) __Westech Energy New Zealand (Westech), a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Corporation of America (ECA), today announced pre-spud operations had begun on the Albacore-1, an offshore exploratory well located approximately 50 km from the North Taranaki Coastline and approximately 70 km north of the City of New Plymouth, North Island, New Zealand. The well will be drilled as part of the work program for Petroleum Exploration Permit (PEP) 38491.

"We developed the prospect after a large regional review of existing wells and geologic and seismic data sets," said Peter Sullivan, ECA's Vice President of Exploration. "In doing so, we realized the area around Albacore had multiple stacked exploration opportunities, making the results even more interesting than we had originally anticipated."

Albacore-1, the first well to be drilled on PEP 38491, is located on the continental shelf in approximately 95 meters of water and will be drilled using the jack-up drilling rig ENSCO 107. The ENSCO 107 rig is currently being moved from the Maari Field to its Albacore location. The well is expected to take approximately 20 days to drill to a total planned depth of approximately 2,200 meters. Recoverable reserves are estimated by ECA to be near 50 million barrels of oil and several hundred billion cubic feet of gas.

The well has three objective targets, a new play type that has not been intersected before by wells in the Taranaki Basin. It involves a series of early Pliocene aged turbidite fans identified on 3D seismic at the Albacore location, along with underlying Mangaa Formation sands and a deeper volcanoclastic interval.

"Albacore-1 is an exciting exploration play for us," said Clyde Bennett, Westech's New Zealand Asset Manager. "If we are successful here, there is a significant potential associated with a number of similar leads within PEP 38491 and on trend with the Albacore Prospect."

If successful, Albacore-1 will signal the start of a new exploration trend in the North Taranaki Basin, which ECA is well positioned to pursue.

Westech maintains a New Zealand office in Wellington and has also opened an Operations Office in New Plymouth to facilitate the drilling and ongoing operations in the area. Port Taranaki in the City of New Plymouth is the shorebase for Albacore-1 operations. Clyde Bennett, New Zealand Asset Manager, manages Westech’s activities in New Zealand. Clark Clement, ECA's Vice President of Western Operations, will be supervising drilling operations in New Plymouth.

Westech is the well operator and holds the 38491 permit for a joint venture that includes NZOG Offshore Limited (40%) and Mighty River Power Gas Investments Limited (10%). NZOG Offshore Limited is a subsidiary of New Zealand Oil and Gas Limited. Mighty River Power Gas Investments Limited is a subsidiary of Mighty River Power Limited.

About Westech Energy New Zealand & Energy Corporation of America:
Westech Energy New Zealand is a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Corporation of America. Founded in 1963, Energy Corporation of America (ECA) is a privately held company involved in the exploration, extraction, production, transportation and marketing of natural gas and oil in the United States and around the world. ECA owns license 38346 and is actively developing acreage in the prolific Marcellus Unconventional Reservoir in the United States Appalachian Basin. ECA also has operations in the Gulf Coast and the Rocky Mountains in the United States. ECA owns and operates more than 5,200 wells, 5,000 miles of pipeline, and 1,000,000 acres in North America alone.