BOIL.L Regulatory News (BOIL)

22 Jun 2007 07:00

Gold Oil PLC22 June 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 22 JUNE 2007 GOLD OIL PLC ("Gold", or "the Company") Gold Oil secures Operator Status in the Republic of Cuba The board of directors of Gold Oil Plc ("Gold"), the AIM listed oil and gasexploration and development company is pleased to announce that the Company hassecured qualification from Oficina Nacional de Recursos Minerales de Republicade Cuba ("ONRM"), the Cuban National Office of Mineral Resources, to act asoperator for oil and gas exploration both onshore and in the territorial watersoffshore Cuba up to a water depth of 100 metres. This qualification representsthe successful completion of phase 1 of the Company's strategy, being developedin conjunction with Gold's strategic partner, Minmet plc ("Minmet") for a numberof Central and South American countries (the "Territories"). Minmet is an Irishregistered natural resource company whose shares are traded on AIM and onDublin's IEX. Following the securing of the required qualification from ONRM, Gold hascommenced negotiations with Cubapetroleo (Cupet), the state oil company of Cuba,for a Production Sharing Contract ("PSC") over a number of targeted blocks whichhave been identified by Gold and Minmet. Under the terms of agreements finalized between Gold and Minmet in February2007, Gold is contracted to act as technical operator on behalf of Minmet, asthe investor, in potential oil and gas properties in the Territories. Gold holds a 24.67 percent interest in Minmet through a share placing and ashare exchange. Minmet is well financed and debt free following arationalization and monetization of its mineral portfolio over the past 18months and has earmarked significant working capital for investment in theTerritories dependant upon securing prospective acreage and favourable PSCterms. Gary Moore, Gold's Chief Executive, commented: "This is a very important stepfor the Gold/Minmet strategic partnership as securing qualification as anoperator is a significant milestone towards achieving a PSC in the highlyprospective Cuban oil and gas fields. It is getting increasingly difficult forsmaller sized oil and gas players to qualify for operatorship for any oil andgas exploration and development projects and this achievement gives both Goldand Minmet a considerable advantage in securing identified highly prospectiveacreage". The technical information contained in this announcement has been reviewed andapproved by Michael Burchell, BSc, 66, member of the SPE and with over 44 yearsexperience in the oil and gas business. For further information, please contact: Gary Moore Managing Director; Tel: 01737833597 Email: gmoore@goldoilplc.com Mike Burchell Chairman; Tel: 01372361772 Email: mikeburchell@hotmail.com Roland Cornish Beaumont Cornish Limited; Tel: 020 7628 3396 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange