Circle Oil Plc Regulatory News (COP)

29 June 2012

Circle Oil Plc

("Circle" or the "Company")

Operating Update Tunisia

Circle Oil Plc (AIM: COP), the international oil and gas exploration, development and production company, is pleased to announce the following update regarding its operations in the Grombalia Permit, Tunisia.

Written confirmation of the six month extension for the fourth validity period of the Grombalia Permit to 18 December 2012 was received from the Direction Générale de l'Energie on 22 June 2012.

Preparations are now underway to drill exploration well Bou Argoub-1 (BAB-1) in the South West Belli area of the Grombalia Permit, near to the Belli, El Manzah and Beni Khaled fields. It is expected that the drilling of this well will commence early in the second half of 2012.

The BAB-1 well will have an expected TD of 1,350 metres and is targeting a fault-bounded structural culmination crossing two vertically stacked fractured carbonate reservoirs, the Eocene Bou Dabbous Formation and the Late Cretaceous Abiod Formation. These are the main oil-producing formations in the north eastern part of Tunisia.

Further updates will be made in due course.

The Grombalia Permit covers an area of 2,792 square kilometres. The partners include Exxoil Tunisie Ltd (65% working interest and operator) and Circle (35% working interest).

Prof Chris Green, CEO, said

"We are very pleased that preparations are now underway for the drilling of our exploration well in the Grombalia Permit. This type of fault-bounded structure has proven historically to be successful for drilling."

Glossary

TD: Total depth

In accordance with the guidelines of the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange, Dr Stuart Harker, VP Geology, with over 30 years experience, is the qualified person as defined in the London Stock Exchange's Guidance Note for Mining and Oil and Gas companies, who has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this announcement. Dr Harker has relied on primary information supplied by the operator in conducting his review.

For further information contact: 

Circle Oil Plc (+44 20 7638 9571)

Professor Chris Green, CEO

Evolution Securities (+44 20 7071 4300)

Chris Sim

Neil Elliot

Fox-Davies Capital (+44 20 3463 5010)

Daniel Fox-Davies

Richard Hail

Citigate Dewe Rogerson (+44 20 7638 9571)

Martin Jackson

Kate Lehane

Murray Consultants (+353 1 498 0300)

Joe Murray

Joe Heron

Notes to Editors

Circle Oil Plc (AIM: COP) is an international oil & gas exploration, development and production Company with an expanding portfolio of assets in Morocco, Tunisia, Oman and Egypt with a combination of low-risk near-term production and significant exploration upside potential. The Company listed on AIM in October 2004.

Internationally, the Company has continued to expand its portfolio over the past two years and now has assets in the Rharb Basin, Morocco; the Ras Marmour Permit in southern Tunisia; the Mahdia Permit offshore Tunisia; the Grombalia Permit in northern Tunisia and the Zeit Bay area of Egypt. Circle also has the largest licence holding of any company in Oman. In addition to its prospective Block 52 offshore, Circle also has an ongoing exploration programme in Block 49 onshore.

Circle's strategy is to locate and secure additional licences in prospective hydrocarbon provinces and through targeted investment programmes, monetise the value in those assets for the benefit of shareholders. This could be achieved through farm-outs to selected partners who would then invest in and continue the development of the asset into production, or Circle may itself opt to use its own expertise to appraise reserves and bring assets into production, generating sustained cash flow for further investment.

Further information on Circle is available on its website at www.circleoil.net.