OREANDA-NEWS. October 8, 2012. HRT Participagoes em Petroleo S.A. (the “Company” or “HRT”) (BM&FBOVESPA: HRTP3, TSX-V: HRP) announces that its subsidiary HRT O&G Exploragao e Produgao de Petroleo Ltda. (”HRT O&G”) has concluded the drillstem test in well 1-HRT-9-AM, block SOL-T-191, in the Solimoes Basin.

The test, carried out in the Jurua Formation reservoir, with a net-pay of 36.4 meters, was successfully concluded on September 7. An interval from 2,769.6 to 2,794.4 meters was opened for testing and showed excellent flow characteristics through a vertical well, reaching a stable production rate of 510 thousand cubic meters (18.01 million cubic feet) of natural gas per day, with a choke of 32/64” and a well head upstream pressure of 3,050 psi. A choke of 40/64” was attempted and resulted in a production rate of over 700 thousand cubic meters (24.72 million cubic feet) of natural gas per day; however, this level exceeded the operational well tester capacity and after 10 minutes the choke was changed out for 32/64” for the duration of the test. The calculated AOF for this test was 7 million cubic meters (247.21 million cubic feet) of natural gas per day.

The tested prospect, located southwestern of the Jurua Field, is part of a geological structure covering an area of around 56 km2, and which is estimated to hold between 10 and 32 billion cubic meters (0.35 to 1.13 Tcf) of recoverable gas.

"This is one of the best gas wells ever drilled and tested onshore Brazil, considering the thickness and quality of the reservoir as well as the DST flow results. It not only confirms the gas trend to the south and east of the Jurua Field, showing integration with the natural gas findings of wells 1-HRT-5-AM, l-HRT-S-AM and 1-HRT-2-AM, but it opens a new exploration frontier to the southwest. HRT believes that this structure has a potential flow rate of up to 3.0 million cubic meters (105 million cubic feet) of natural gas per day, when it reaches its development phase. This discovery plays a key role in the assessment of the gas potential of the Solimoes Basin", mentioned Milton Franke, Chief Executive Officer of HRT O&G.

"This result demonstrates that the Solimoes Basin holds one of the largest potentials for gas among Brazilian basins and will allow to accelerate the gas monetization plan in the area", said Marcio Rocha Mello, CEO of HRT and Chairman of the Board.