Ascent Resources Regulatory News (AST)

Ascent Resources plc / Epic: AST / Index: AIM / Sector: Oil and Gas

23 February 2012

Ascent Resources plc ('Ascent' or 'the Company')

22% Increase in Gas-in-Place Volumes for the Petišovci Project in Slovenia

Ascent Resources plc the AIM listed European oil and gas exploration and production company, reports a 22% increase in P50 gas-in-place ('GIP') volumes to 504 Bcf (14 Bm3; 87 MMboe) from 412 Bcf previously announced for the Petišovci Project. The upgrade forms part of an audit prepared by RPS Energy Group plc ('RPS') a leading international oil and gas reserve assessor, that included the analysis of data from the Pg-10, Pg-11 and Pg-11A wells in Slovenia, which were drilled and successfully tested during 2011.

The Petišovci Project is a joint venture between Ascent Slovenia Limited with a 75% interest and Geoenergo d.o.o. with a 25% interest. The joint venture is commencing the redevelopment of the Middle Miocene tight gas reservoirs of the Petišovci area of eastern Slovenia.

The results of Pg-10 and Pg-11A wells provided proof-of-concept for the project and were fracture stimulated and tested at rates of over 8 MMscfd and 2 MMscfd respectively. These two wells will be recompleted as the first production wells of the redevelopment project.

The majority of the increase in GIP volumes, reported by RPS, comes from the deeper reservoir sands proven productive by the Pg-11A well. These were originally known as the "K" sands but have now been subdivided into seven different sands from "K" through to "Q". RPS attributed net additional P50 GIP volumes of over 83 Bcf to these new sands as well as 9 Bcf to the "F" sands which previously had been evaluated together with the "E4" reservoir interval. Gas-in-place estimates are 242 Bcf and 1,034 Bcf at P90 and P10 levels with a mean of 594 Bcf.

Ascent's Managing Director Jeremy Eng said, "The gas-in-place upgrade confirms the progress we have made over the last year as we continue to move the project towards production later this year. The timing of the recompletion of the Pg-10 and Pg-11A wells will now coincide with the construction work to be carried out on the connecting pipelines. In the meantime, work on the design, procurement and modifications to the existing gas processing facilities continues. Reservoir simulation, also by RPS, for the "F" sands at Pg-10 is complete and in progress for the Pg-11A sands, these results are designed to forecast future production and we will provide the market with an update in due course."

The technical information contained in this announcement has been reviewed and approved by Ed Jankowski, a Director of RPS Energy who holds a BSc and PhD in Geophysics and has over 30 years of upstream oil and gas experience.

For further information visit www.ascentresources.co.uk or contact:

Notes:

Ascent Resources plc has a diversified portfolio of hydrocarbon exploration and development interests across five countries in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, Hungary, Slovenia and Netherlands. Its portfolio contains a solid base of field redevelopment projects with selected exposure to exploration upside. The portfolio is focussed on gas and with the exception of the shallow water Netherlands project, all of its projects are located onshore where operating and development costs are substantially lower than they would be offshore.