Ascent Resources Regulatory News (AST)

14 Feb 2006 11:36

Ascent Resources PLC14 February 2006 Ascent Resources plc / Epic: AST / Index: AIM / Sector: Oil and Gas 14th February 2006 Ascent Resources plc ('Ascent' or 'the Company') Increases Interest in Ayoluengo Oil Field in Spain to 88.75% Ascent Resources plc, the AIM listed oil and gas exploration and productioncompany, has entered into an agreement to acquire a further 25% interest in theproducing Ayoluengo oil field in the Sedano Basin in Northern Spain for €300,000in cash and shares. The agreement, which is with Petroleum Oil and Gas Espana('POGE') and is subject to regulatory approval, will take Ascent's beneficialinterest in the field to 88.75%. The remaining 11.25% is held by Gold Oil plc. The average purchase price of Ascent's 88.75% interest in the field is slightlyover US$6.00 per barrel of reserves. Ascent has already begun engineeringstudies for an investment programme designed to increase the production rate ofthe field, which as announced, recently averaged 115 barrels of oil per day. Ascent Resources' Managing Director Jeremy Eng said: "While we continuepreparations for our multi-well exploration programme scheduled for later thisyear, we will continue to acquire assets that have the ability to providesignificant value for shareholders. Our objective is to increase production inSpain. The cash-flow from Ayoluengo covers the Company's overhead and alsocontributes to our exploration programme." Jeremy Eng has a Masters Degree in petroleum engineering and more than 24 yearsof oil & gas industry experience. He has reviewed the statements in thisannouncement. * * ENDS * * Contacts: Jeremy Eng Ascent Resources plc Tel: 020 7251 4905Hugo de Salis St Brides Media & Finance Ltd Tel: 020 7242 4477 Notes Ascent Resources plc has assembled an extensive portfolio of oil and gasexploration and production assets across Europe since March 2005. These assetsinclude oil production from the Ayoluengo Field of northern Spain along withnearby oil and gas exploration, oil and gas exploration in Switzerland andItaly, gas exploration and tight gas reservoir re-development in Hungary, aswell as an exploration application offshore Holland and minor assets in Gabon. With the strong European gas market, the Company's portfolio is balanced infavour of gas over oil. Over the next 12 months, six exploration wells areplanned: two in Spain, two or three in Italy and one or two in Hungary.Permitting of these wells has commenced. In parallel with acquiring the oil and gas assets, the Company has appointed tothe Board a team of highly experienced directors who are specialists in theEuropean oil and gas business and each of whom have expertise and experience incommercialising hydrocarbon, but particularly gas, assets. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange