Altona Energy Regulatory News (ANR)

Altona Energy Plc / Index: AIM / Epic: ANR / Sector: Exploration & Production

9 December 2010

Altona Energy Plc ('Altona' or 'the Company')

Chairman's AGM Statement

Altona Energy Plc, the AIM listed Australian based energy company, is holding its Annual General Meeting ('AGM') today at 3:30 p.m. At the meeting, Chairman Chris Lambert, will make the following statement:

"During 2010 we have made extensive progress in the development of the Arckaringa Project ('the Project'), which we believe is one of the world's largest undeveloped energy banks, with an estimated 7.8 billion tonne coal deposit in the Arckaringa Basin of South Australia, and we are now in a strong position to realise its full potential with the acceleration of the work programme during 2011. With funding secured for the Bankable Feasibility Study ('BFS'), political backing in Australia and China and a highly experienced technological team in place, the foundations are now laid for us and our 51 per cent. Joint Venture partners CNOOC New Energy International (Australia) Pty Ltd ('CNOOC-NEIA'), a subsidiary of one of China's largest national oil companies, to implement our development plan and crystallise the inherent value of the Project. With this in mind we believe that 2011 has the potential to be a great year for Altona due to the identification of multiple value trigger points that will be achieved over the course of the next 12 months.

"The major drive now, consistent with the FIRB approval, is the completion of the BFS for a coal mine and an integrated value-added project. The current BFS base case is a 10 million tonne per annum coal mine supporting a 10 million barrel per year Coal to Liquid ('CTL') plant and 560MW co-generation power facility. Given the scale of the coal resource, the JV intends to initially evaluate a mine development up to 15 million tonne per annum and associated coal processing options. CNOOC-NEIA is initially acting as manager and operator of the Project, taking responsibility for assessing the full potential of the coal resource and funding the full cost of the BFS. The Joint Venture Committee has approved the annual budget of AU$40 million (circa £24 million). The first stage, which has now commenced and is anticipated to last 12 months, has a budget of AU$12 million, after which the second stage will begin. Our position has evolved and we have now moved from a conceptual and planning phase into the exciting detailed evaluation and execution phase.

"The first phase will cover multiple key value-enhancing activities. These include the review of the coal geology and resources/reserves; the delineation and allocation of the coal reserves for the long term mine plan; mine design and planning; groundwater management and engineering and environmental baseline studies; reviewing and selecting surface coal mining methodology options; and product market research to review domestic and export market options for coal and processed products, including liquid fuels, chemical feedstocks and power. All of the above will underpin the follow-up engineering of the coal conversion plant and significantly de-risk the Project further. With the work programme underway, we will be able to regularly provide investors with a clear idea of the value triggers in the Project and its huge potential."

"Importantly, the Joint Venture will not only focus on the BFS but will also assess the multiple project potential of the Arckaringa coal deposit, including coal development, CTL, synthetic natural gas, power co-generation and other potential clean energy projects. We envisage that the JV will also enable the targeting of CTL exports to China and other Asian markets.

"The original rationale behind the Arckaringa Project remains that the quality of our coal is suitable for conversion to syngas, using existing tried and tested commercial technologies. We believe the products from Arckaringa will be highly marketable given growing worldwide energy demand - in particular they would help to fill the projected energy shortfall faced by South Australia, which already has to import all its diesel fuel needs and is forecast to require an additional 1,000MW of base load power over the next 10 years. In our view, recent announcements, including Sasol's news that it has flown the first passenger aircraft using its own-developed synthetic jet fuel, and an agreement between the Solena Group Inc., and U.S. based Rentech, Inc. ('Rentech'), establishing Europe's first commercial scale sustainable jet fuel facility in the UK utilising synthetic fuel technology, clearly demonstrates the increasing demand dynamics for the production of syngas and associated products and therefore underpins the significant and rising potential of the Arckaringa Project.

"We understand the technical requirements to develop Arckaringa. We have a fantastic technical team, greatly reinforced by the appointment of Peter Fagiano as Director of Project Technology, which will work in tandem with CNOOC-NEI, whose industry knowledge and extensive in-house expertise provide the key to the successful development of the Project.

"I am very excited about our prospects and as you will recognise, the opportunity for us is huge. The foundations are now in place and I look forward to the rapid development of Altona and a bright future."

In addition, a presentation was delivered at the AGM, a copy of which will shortly be available on the Company's website www.altonaenergy.com.

**ENDS**

For further information visit www.altonaenergy.com or please contact: