ECHO.L Regulatory News (ECHO)

25 Sep 2006 07:03

Independent Resources PLC25 September 2006 Independent Resources plc Key step for Italy's first coal bed methane project Independent Resources plc, ("IRG" or "the Company") theAIM-quoted natural gas storage and exploration company, is pleased to announceit has commenced drilling a stratigraphic borehole to obtain detailed geologicalinformation on Italy's first coal bed methane project. The well is expected to provide data for the appraisal of the methane resourceswhich are known to lie in the Fiume Bruna coal basin north of the town ofGrosseto in central Italy. The planned project is based on producing gas from a six metre thick coal seam.Past mining of the coal was limited to shallow depths, and was ultimately halteddue to the generation of abundant methane in the deeper shafts. IRG Technical Director Roberto Bencini said: "While the production of coal bedmethane is now well-established in North America and elsewhere, this will be thefirst well associated with coal bed methane in Italy. It will be valuable forplanning our next steps in appraising the commercial potential of the FiumeBruna licence." Drilling is expected to take around two weeks, with results due over thefollowing months. The coal is expected at a depth of around 330 metres. For further information contact: Stephen Staley, Managing Director, Independent Resources plc: 01332 865 253 07771 838 753 Allan Piper, First City Financial Public Relations: 020 7436 7486 Background follows: Coal bed methane is almost pure methane produced directly from coal seams.Whilst many conventional oil and gas fields comprise trapped hydrocarbonsgenerated by coal deposits, producing gas directly from coal is a very differenttechnical and economic proposition. IRG was provisionally awarded the Fiume Bruna exploration licence from theItalian Government in June 2005. The licence covers an area of 267 squarekilometres and has very light work commitments. The new well is an important step in the staged appraisal of the licence, whichonly commits IRG to undertake subsequent phases once it is satisfied with theresults of the previous stage. Drilling results from this well are expected to provide information on coalpermeability, the composition of water produced, and an accurate indication ofcoal methane content at depth by gas desorption from coal cores. Gas desorption from cores may take months, during which the released gas iscarefully monitored and measured. As the well is classified as a stratigraphic borehole, drilling objectivesexplicitly exclude testing the coal seam for actual gas flow rates. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange