Ascent Resources Regulatory News (AST)

4 Oct 2006 11:00

Ascent Resources PLC04 October 2006 Ascent Resources plc / Epic: AST / Index: AIM / Sector: Oil and Gas 4 October 2006 Ascent Resources plc ("Ascent" or "the Company") Corporate Update Ascent Resources plc, the AIM traded oil and gas exploration and productioncompany, has received £338,000 before expenses from the exercise of all theoutstanding 5p warrants in the Company. Additionally, the Company has appointedFraser Pritchard as Group Operations Manager. 6,760,000 5p warrants for one Ordinary Share in the Company have been exercisedand there are now no outstanding 5p warrants in issue. As part of thetransaction, 1,690,000 Incentive Warrants have been issued, giving the holdersthe right to subscribe for one Ordinary Share of the Company per warrant at aprice of 12.5p at any time up to and including 22 December 2007. Also 15,000 new Ordinary Shares have been issued at a price of 12.5p to advisersof the Company in lieu of fees amounting to £1,875. Application will be madefor the admission to trading on AIM of 6,775,000 new Ascent Resources plcOrdinary Shares with admission expected to take place on 10 October 2006.Following their admission, the total number of shares in issue will be263,436,778. Ascent's new Operations Manager, Mr. Pritchard (40) has extensive experience ofthe oil and gas industry and was recently NW European Business Manager with IBMConsulting (formerly PricewaterhouseCoopers) where he directed business strategychange for a diverse portfolio of upstream companies. Previously he was acommercial and strategy advisor at Exxon-Mobil where he also worked inoperations management and had responsibility for the implementation of HealthSafety and Environmental policies. As part of his employment agreement, Mr.Pritchard will be issued options to subscribe for 500,000 new shares of theCompany at a price of 12.5p exercisable between the first and fifthanniversaries of issue. * * ENDS * * For further information visit www.ascentresources.co.uk or contact: Jeremy Eng Ascent Resources plc Tel: 020 7251 4905Hugo de Salis St Brides Media & Finance Ltd Tel: 020 7242 4477 Notes Ascent Resources has an extensive portfolio of over 20 oil and gas projectsacross six countries in Europe. These include an 88% interest and operatorshipof the only onshore Spanish oilfield which produces over 100 barrels of oil perday. Ascent's other projects are in Italy, Switzerland, Hungary and Romania, aswell as applications offshore Netherlands. Starting late this summer Ascent willdrill six (with two optional extra) exploration wells, two (or four) in Hungaryand two each in Spain and Italy. In 2007, high impact gas exploration wells areplanned in the Po Valley in Italy and in Switzerland. The Company will alsoparticipate in up to four non-operated exploration wells in the Aurelian ledproject in Romania (5% Ascent) from which gas production and sales from theBilca development are to commence shortly. With the strong and stable European gas market, the Company's portfolio isbalanced in favour of gas over oil, and with the exception of Netherlands,projects are located onshore where operating and development costs are much lessthan they are offshore. The Company has appointed to its Board a team of experienced directors who arespecialists in the European energy business and each of whom has expertise andexperience in commercialising energy assets. This provides the structure underwhich the Company can accommodate the rapid growth that will accompany adiscovery made during this year's drilling campaign. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange