Ascent Resources Regulatory News (AST)

1 Aug 2007 07:00

Ascent Resources PLC01 August 2007 Ascent Resources plc / Epic: AST / Index: AIM / Sector: Oil and Gas 1st August 2007 Ascent Resources plc ("Ascent" or "the Company") Signs Farm-out agreement for Cento and Bastiglia in Italy's Po Valley Ascent Resources plc, the AIM-traded oil and gas exploration and productioncompany, has entered into an agreement with Deltana Energy Limited ("Deltana")of Australia to farm-out a 50% interest in the 1,113 sq km Cento and Bastigliaexploration permits in the Po Valley of Italy. The Po Valley, which extends across the northern part of Italy from Turin in thewest to Venice and Ravenna in the east, is the one of the most productive areasfor gas and oil onshore in Europe. Since the first production in the 1950s,over 130 fields have been put on production. Ascent's exploration permits,located in the central part of the Po Plain near the cities of Modena to thesouth, Mantova to the north and Bologna to the south east, are among the largestin the region. Under the terms of the agreement, Deltana will pay the cost of the firstexploration well and, on success, will pay the cost of a second explorationwell. The first well targets a Pliocene prospect in the western part of thepermits at a depth of about 2,400m and the second, one of the other prospects inthe permits. Deltana will also contribute to the historical costs on the permitand pay the first €1.5 million of future seismic expenditure. Ascent Resources Managing Director Jeremy Eng said, "The terms of this farm-inconfirm our belief of the exceptional quality of the Cento and Bastigliaexploration acreage. New exploration techniques have improved the chance ofsuccess in gas exploration, which in the Po Valley is already better than 1 in 4over the period since the 1950s." Geoffrey Bone CEO of Deltana said, "Our entry into the Po Valley permitsrepresents a great strategic fit with Deltana's proposed Mediterranean strategy.This is focussed on participating in low cost onshore exploration in low riskand highly profitable gas producing provinces with established infrastructure.Ascent's portfolio in the Po Valley matches our criteria perfectly." * * 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 a portfolio of over 20 gas and oil projects across sixcountries in Europe. The projects are onshore in Italy, Switzerland, Hungary,Spain, Slovenia and offshore Netherlands. The Company operates Spain's onlyonshore oilfield where production currently averages over 110 barrels of oil perday. With the stable European gas market, Ascent's portfolio favours gas overoil. With the exception of the Netherlands, all of its projects are locatedonshore where operating and development costs are substantially lower than theyare offshore. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange