Ascent Resources Regulatory News (AST)

8 Jun 2009 09:00



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

8th June 2009

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

Issue of Equity 

Ascent Resources plc, the AIM traded oil and gas exploration and production company, has, further to the announcement of 14 May 2009, issued 17,350,000 new ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each ('Ordinary Shares') to GEM Global Yield Fund Limited ('GEM') as part of a draw down on the equity line of credit provided by GEM. The price of the subscription is 7.4 pence per Ordinary Share, being a discount of 9% to the average closing price over the past 15 trading days.

Application will be made for the shares to be admitted to trading on AIM on 12 June 2009. Following the issue of the new Shares the Company's issued share capital will consist of 322,132,042 Ordinary Shares with voting rights.

Ascent Managing Director Jeremy Eng said, "These funds will enable us to further advance the development of a number of the assets in our portfolio. These include the drilling of the Anagni-2 appraisal well in the Frosinone exploration licence in Italy where permitting is in the final stages, planning and procurement for the drilling campaign on the Nyírség Permit in Hungary, where 3D seismic data acquired in late 2008 identified a number of additional prospects in the Penészlek area, and permitting for seismic over the Petisovci field in Slovenia, where a 3D acquisition is planned later in 2009." 

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

Notes

Ascent Resources plc has a diversified portfolio of some 20 hydrocarbon exploration and development projects across five countries in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, Hungary, Slovenia and Netherlands. Ascent's portfolio contains a solid base of field redevelopment projects with selected exposure to exploration upside. The portfolio is focused primarily 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 are offshore. Ascent also has an oil and gas asset management joint venture with San Severina Holdings SA, a Swiss based investment company, which is focused on acquiring minority interests and providing investment funding for producing and appraisal or development stage oil and gas projects.

Global Emerging Markets Limited was founded in 1991.  The firm is a US$2.7 billion alternative investment group that manages a diverse set of investments vehicles across the world. GEM's funds include: CITIC/GEM Fund; VC Bank/GEM Mena Fund; Kinderhook; GEM India and Banco Pine/GEM Funds. For further information please visit www.gemny.com.