Ascent Resources Regulatory News (AST)

6 Aug 2007 12:15

Ascent Resources PLC06 August 2007 Ascent Resources plc / Epic: AST / Index: AIM / Sector: Oil and Gas 6th August 2007 Ascent Resources plc ("Ascent" or "the Company") Commences drilling the Arrone-1 Well in Italy Ascent Resources plc, the AIM-traded oil and gas exploration and productioncompany, has commenced the drilling of the Arrone-1 gas exploration well in the358 sq km Fiume Arrone Exploration Permit in Central Italy. The well, which istargeting gas prospective basal Pliocene sands, is 25km west of Rome and 11kmnorth-north-west of Rome's Fiumincino International airport. Arrone-1 is thefirst well on the permit and the partners in the project are Oracle Energy ofCanada (20%), Italmin Exploration of Italy (14%) and JKX of the UK (10%). AscentResources Italia is the operator with a 56% working interest. The Arrone-1 well spudded on Saturday and the conductor casing is now set andcemented at 55m. It is planned to drill to a depth of 1,000m and is expected totake approximately three weeks to complete. Two wells have previously beendrilled in the area of the permit, one of which, the Roma-2 well drilled in1955, reported gas shows. Ascent Resources Managing Director Jeremy Eng said, "As highlighted by ourrecent three announcements including the spudding of the Arrone-1 well, thefarm-out in the Po Valley and the on-going test on the Anagni-1 well, Ascent hasa diverse spread of projects and a continued high level of exploration drillingactivity." Production testing of the Anagni-1 well continues and a further update will beprovided by the Company in due course. This announcement is timed for simultaneous release of information in UK andCanada. * * 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