Ascent Resources Regulatory News (AST)

23 Sep 2005 07:01

Ascent Resources PLC23 September 2005 Ascent Resources plc / Epic: AST / Index: AIM / Sector: Oil and Gas 23rd September 2005 Ascent Resources plc ("Ascent" or "the Company") 'To Acquire Exploration Interest in Spain' Ascent Resources plc, the AIM quoted oil and gas exploration and productioncompany, has entered into an agreement to acquire a 50% interest in theHuermeces, Valderredible and Basconcillos-H exploration permits covering a totalof 556 square kilometres in the Sedano basin in Spain, from a subsidiary ofNorthern Petroleum Plc for a 2.5% over-riding royalty derived from any futureproduction. Tethys Oil AB of Sweden holds the other 50% interest. The Sedano basin is an established oil and gas producing area where theAyoluengo Field has already produced some 17 million barrels of oil. Theexploration permits, which surround the field, contain two discoveries. Anappraisal programme with the drilling of two wells is the first priority. Thesewells will appraise the Hontomin 2 discovery well drilled by Chevron in 1968,which produced oil during testing and the Tozo 1 discovery, drilled by Chevronin 1965, which flowed several hundred barrels over a five month period. TheTozo 1 well also contained an un-tested gas sand. * * ENDS * * Issued on behalf of Ascent Resources plc by St Brides Media & Finance Ltd, 46Bedford Row, London, WC1R 4LR. Contacts: Jeremy Eng Ascent Resources plc Tel: 020 7251 4905 Hugo de Salis St Brides Media & Finance Ltd Tel: 020 7242 4477 Notes: Ascent Resources plc is an AIM quoted oil and gas company with a primary focusin Europe. Since being founded in November 2004, Ascent has assembled aportfolio of exploration assets that include majority interests in eightexploration permits. Applications for a further two are in progress. Ascentconsiders the full spectrum of projects covering exploration, early stagedevelopment and production. The Company has an experienced technical team withstrong industry contacts and a proven track record. They have implemented astructured two phase development strategy: Phase 1 is to develop the core ofEuropean projects; while Phase 2 is to acquire a lesser number of larger scaleprojects across a wider geographical range. The Company now has a 90% interestsin projects in Hungary (gas), Switzerland (gas & oil), and Holland (gas), a 100%interest in an Italian gas exploration project and a 70% interest in Italian oilexploration as well as the royalty and working interests in Gabon. The balanceof oil and gas assets and the geographical spread of projects mainly in netenergy importing countries are designed to mitigate the risk in commodity pricefluctuation and changes in global energy politics. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange