28 Apr 2009 07:00
| For immediate release | 28 April 2009 |
Desire Petroleum plc
("Desire" or "the Company")
Director Shareholding and Additional Listing
The Company announces that on 27 April 2009, Stephen Phipps, Chairman, Ian Duncan, CEO, and Anna Neve, a Non-executive Director exercised an aggregate of 1,195,599 options over new ordinary shares in the Company at an exercise price of 20.11p per share.
In addition, the same three directors have sold an aggregate of 714,487 ordinary shares at 30p per share.
Details of these transactions are set out below:
| Director | No. of options exercised | No. of shares sold | Post-transaction shareholding |
| Stephen Phipps | 478,239 | 178,239 | 33,722,633* (14.7%) |
| Ian Duncan | 478,239 | 397,127 | 413.946** (0.18%) |
| Anna Neve | 239,121 | 139,121 | 33,522,633* (14.6%) |
* These include an interest in 30,582,633 shares held by Phipps & Company Limited and 2,840,000 shares held by the Phipps & Company Retirement Benefit Scheme.
** This includes 107,143 shares held by Chase Energy Limited.
Application has been made for 1,195,599 new ordinary shares to be admitted to trading on AIM and admission is expected to occur on 1 May 2009.
Following the exercise of the options, there are 229,715,445 ordinary shares in issue.
For further information please contact:
| Desire Petroleum plc | 020 7436 0423 |
| Stephen Phipps, Chairman | |
| Dr Ian Duncan, Chief Executive Officer | |
| Seymour Pierce | 020 7107 8000 |
| Jonathan Wright | |
| Buchanan Communications | 020 7466 5000 |
| Ben Willey Ben Romney |