Circle Oil Plc Regulatory News (COP)

7 Jun 2005 06:00

7 June 2005 CIRCLE OIL PLC ("Circle Oil" or the "Company") CIRCLE OIL SIGNS AGREEMENT ON BLOCK 49,OMAN Circle Oil plc is pleased to announce that it has signed the Exploration andProduction Sharing Agreement on Block 49, Sultanate of Oman. The agreement wassigned yesterday in Muscat by Dr. Mohammed Bin Hamad Bin Saif Al Rumhy,Minister for Oil and Gas, Sultanate of Oman and Mr. Michael J. Keyes, ChiefOperating Officer, Circle Oil plc. This agreement outlines the work programmefor the 6 year licence period and also defines the terms for production sharingin the event of a commercial discovery.Block 49, the Montasar Block, covers an area of over 15,400 square kilometresin southwestern Oman. It lies immediately west of Block 6 which producesapproximately 700,000 barrels of oil per day. This concession is operated byShell and is owned by Petroleum Development Oman, a company whose shareholdersare the Government of Oman, Shell, Total and Partex. Block 49 extends north tothe Saudi Arabian border where the Rub'Al Khali oil basin is situated.Block 49 has been awarded to Circle for a six year period with an initialexploration programme of 36 months followed by two 18 month extensions. Theinitial programme includes the review of all existing data followed byaeromagnetic/aerogravity and 2D and 3D seismic surveys. Drilling will becarried out in periods 2 and 3 though the timing of this can be advanceddepending on the results of the initial surveys.Circle intends to commence its work programme on Block 49 later this year andthe Company is currently in talks with strategic and institutional investmentgroups to fund its ongoing exploration programmes on this and other areas.Circle is also pleased with its progress on its Namibian concession with theChina Shine group and will update the market in the near future. -Ends- For further information please contact,David Hough, Tel. 00-353-87-2402200John McKeon, Tel. 07767-262628Ben Simons / Chris RobertsHansard CommunicationsTel. 020-7245-1100ENDCIRCLE OIL PLC