BLR Black Rock Oil

RNS Number:8629I
Black Rock Oil & Gas PLC
22 August 2001

Black Rock Oil & Gas PLC

A.R.B.N. 096 417 462

Black Rock Oil & Gas PLC ("Black Rock" or the "Company") is pleased to
announce details of two acquisitions, the proposed appointment of an executive
director and updates regarding Licence PEDL 042 in Southern England and
Licence PEL 425 in New South Wales, Australia.

EP 373 - Onshore Canning Basin, Western Australia

ACQUISITION

Black Rock has entered into an agreement to acquire the 25% interest in EP373
held by a subsidiary of Pasminco Ltd, a company listed on the Australian Stock
Exchange.  Black Rock will hold 100% of the licence subject to approval of the
transfer by the regulatory authorities. The 25% interest had the benefit of
not being required to find its share of expenditure of drilling two wells on
the permit, all of which cost fell to Black Rock.

Pasminco Ltd has recently announced a restructure of all its operations
including the disposal of its mining and exploration assets. Black Rock has
taken advantage of this opportunity to acquire the minority carried interest
in EP 373 for a nominal consideration of A$10,000 cash.  The Board considers
this to be an advantageous outcome for the Company.

EXTENSION OF LICENCE AND RE-EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL RESERVES IN EP 373

Black Rock has recently held discussions with the Department of Minerals and
Energy in Western Australia and has now received written confirmation for
postponement of the work programme commitments for the year ending 23 August
2001 into the permit year ending 23 August 2002.  The postponement of the
drilling will allow greater preparation for the programme next year coupled
with the Company's ability to offer a simple farm-out arrangement as it will
hold 100% of EP 373 (subject to government approval).  The Company has
prepared a farmout brochure and is actively seeking a partner for next year.

Black Rock has re-evaluated the EP 373 licence area using computer reprocessed
data which has led to the definition of a number of structures at the
Ordovician level beneath the regional seal of the Carribuddy Formation. As
evidenced by the Patience 2 well drilled to the south of EP 373 in 2000, it is
typical that wherever valid structural closures beneath an effective
Carribuddy seal have been drilled in the Canning Basin, hydrocarbons have been
found.  The main reservoir target is the Acacia Sandstone, which contained
hydrocarbons at Looma 1, drilled in 1996, in EP 353 immediately to the west of
EP 373.  At Looma 1, the Acacia reservoir was poorly developed, but well data
show that sand thickness and quality improve into EP 373, where, in addition,
this target horizon is less deeply buried.  The four main structures mapped in
EP 373 have been estimated by Petra Geological Services to contain potential
recoverable reserves (mean) totalling around 150 million barrels in the Acacia
Sandstone Reservoir.


WA 226 P - OFFSHORE PERTH BASIN, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

ACQUISITION

Black Rock Resources NL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, has entered
into an agreement to acquire a 10.5% interest (subject to conditions) in WA
226 P from Cadex Petroleum Pty Limited for a consideration of #200,000 to be
satisfied by the issue of 4 million fully paid ordinary shares in Black Rock
at 5p per share.

In addition, interests associated with each of Mr Steinepreis and Mr Scott,
both directors of the Company, have agreed to grant to Cadex an option to
acquire an aggregate of 2 million warrants to subscribe for ordinary shares.
The warrants the subject of the option are currently the subject of existing
lock-in arrangements and thus the option will not be exercisable until such
time as the lock-in arrangements have expired, currently 26 April 2002

WA 226 P is located in the northern offshore Perth basin and has a total area
of around 3,800km2.  Other interest holders are Dana Petroleum (E&P) Limited
("Dana") and EDC Australia Ltd.  Dana is the operator.  Three main prospects
have been mapped, which Dana estimate could contain total potential
recoverable reserves of between 200 and 300 million barrels.  On behalf of the
group, Dana is currently planning to drill Morangie, considered the most
prospective structure, in 2002.  The Morangie structure could contain over 100
million barrels potentially recoverable in Permo-Triassic sandstones

APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTOR

The Board is pleased to advise that subject to the completion of the
acquisition of the 10.5% interest in WA226P, John Tarrant will be appointed,
as an executive director of Black Rock.

Mr Tarrant graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of
Commerce degree and also holds a Bachelor of Science (Graduate) in Geology,
Bachelor of Arts and a Post Graduate Diploma in Financial Management from the
University of New England together with a Post Graduate Diploma in Taxation
from the University of Central Queensland.

Mr Tarrant holds a Diploma in Applied Finance from the Securities Institute of
Australia and is a Certified Practising Accountant, a Fellow of the Taxation
Institute of Australia and an Associate of the Securities Institute of
Australia.  He has also completed the Securities Program at Simon Fraser
University, Vancouver.

Mr Tarrant has held senior executive positions with a number of mineral
exploration and oil and gas companies in Australia and overseas, and until
recently was CEO of Golden Gate Resources Limited.  He has 20 years experience
and has worked in London, Melbourne and Perth.

Mr Tarrant is a director and major shareholder of Cadex Petroleum Pty Ltd, the
vendor of WA 226P and therefore will become interested in 4 million ordinary
shares of the Company (4.66%) following the completion of the acquisition.
Mr. Tarrant has considerable experience in resource projects and it is Black
Rock's intention to establish a new subsidiary for African oil and gas
projects using John's contacts and experience.

Mr Tarrant is currently pursuing other opportunities in  the oil and gas
sectors in conjunction with the Company. Whilst it would be premature to give
any details of these opportunities at this time should they come to fruition
and should the Company decide to participate then any such transaction would
be subject to the related party provisions of the AIM Rules.

Mr Tarrant will also be responsible for investigating the possibility of
floating a new company based on the combined Black Rock and Cadex assets in
Australia.  The Board sees this as a potential way to increase shareholder
value and to underpin and expand exploration activities in Australia through a
further capital raising.

The Board of Black Rock welcomes Mr. Tarrant's appointment (further details on
Mr. Tarrant's previous directorships etc can be found in appendix 1 to this
release).

PEDL 042, SOUTHERN ENGLAND

A number of potential drilling sites have now been identified for Rogate 2,
planned to test the self-sourcing reservoir potential in the Oxford
Clay-Corallian interval which had oil shows in Rogate 1, drilled in 1985.
Negotiations with land owners are about to start and an initial planning
application should be submitted in September.  The planning and approval
process is expected to take up to 6 to 8 months, and drilling in this licence
is thus expected in the second or third quarter of 2002 (subject to Department
of Trade and Industry agreement and planning approval).  Black Rock intends to
find a farm-in partner to drill Rogate 2 and a farmout package is currently
being prepared.  Black Rock plans to seek a deferral of the drilling
obligation from the Department of Trade and Industry.

PEL 425 - ONSHORE NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA

The Company has previously announced that it has entered into a conditional
sale & purchase agreement with Otto Oil Pty Ltd (an Australian private
company) to buy a 100% interest in PEL 425, in the Darling Basin, New South
Wales, Australia.  The Board is pleased to advise that the transfer of the
licence has been approved, by the NSW Department of Mineral Resources, so that
the transfer has become unconditional and has been completed and registered on
the public record.

Black Rock Oil & Gas PLC is the holding company of the Black Rock Group which
since 1995 has pursued the exploration for both conventional and
non-conventional oil and gas accumulations using both established and new
technologies and is pioneering the use of new 3-D processed field data,
particularly gravity and magnetic data in oil and gas exploration.  Upon
completion of the acquisition of the Cadex interest, the group will hold 8
petroleum exploration interests in the United Kingdom, the Middle East and
Australia.

David Steinepreis
Chairman


Contacts:                 Julian Riddick, London based Tel:  020 7629 7237
                                          Director                     

                          Australia:
                          David Steinepreis, Chairman  Tel:  +61 8 94812407
                          John Scott, Managing DirectorFax:  +61 8 94812690
                          Email blkrock@highway1.com.au
                          Website: www.blackrockpetroleum.com.au

Nominated Adviser to Black Rock
Oil & Gas PLC:            Corporate Synergy plc        Tel: 020 7626 2244
                                   
                                                                

Appendix 1

The following information is disclosed pursuant to the AIM Rules:

*        Full Name:                    John Patrick Tarrant

*        Age:                          39 years

*        Mr Tarrant is presently a director of the following companies:

Haddington International Resources Limited

Frontier Bonaparte Pty Ltd

Cadex Petroleum Pty Limited

Balmain Resources Pty Ltd

Plough Lane Holdings Pty Ltd

Plough Lane Superannuation Pty Ltd

Frontier (WA) Pty Ltd

Fropet Holdings Ltd

Cambridge Petroleum Royalties Ltd

Cambridge Petroleum (Reading Basin) Limited

Fropet Inc.

Mr Tarrant has previously been a director of the following companies during
the past 5 years but is no longer a director

Golden Gate Resources Ltd

Daytona Energy Corporation

RMG Limited (formerly Frontier Petroleum NL)

Blackburn Resources Pty Ltd

Doncaster Resources Pty Ltd

Glenrowan Resources Limited

Mr Tarrant is not currently a partner in any partnership and has not been a
partner in a partnership during the past 5 years.


*  Mr Tarrant has no unspent convictions in relation to indictable
   offences.


*  Mr Tarrant has no bankruptcies or individual voluntary arrangements.

*  Mr Tarrant has no receiverships, compulsory liquidations, creditors
voluntary liquidations, administrations, company voluntary arrangements or an
composition or arrangement with creditors generally or any class of its
creditors of any company at this time or within 12 months preceding.

*  Mr Tarrant has no compulsory liquidations, administrations or
partnership voluntary arrangements at this time or within 12 months preceding.

*  Mr Tarrant has no receiverships of personal assets or of a
partnership at this time or within 12 months preceding.

*  Mr Tarrant has no public criticisms held against him by statutory or
regulatory authorities (including recognised professional bodies) and he has
never been disqualified by a court from acting as a director of a company or
from acting in the management or conduct of the affairs of any company.

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