Echo Energy Regulatory News (ECHO)

20 February 2014

Independent Resources plc

Tunisia - Application for extension of Ksar Hadada licence

Independent Resources ("Independent" or "the Company") together with Tunisia's national oil company, Entreprise Tunisienne d'Activités Pétrolières (ETAP) has received formal notice from Tunisia's Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mines (through its permitting authority Direction Générale de l'Energie ("DGE")) inviting Independent (with the other minority partners) to submit a revised program to cover the proposed extended period of the Ksar Hadada Permit (for two years up to 19 April 2016). 

ETAP with the support of the Company has made an application on 19 February 2014 for Independent Resources to be the Operator of the licence with an interest of 86.345% of the PSC for the period of this extension.

Information on Ksar Hadada

The Ksar Hadada exploration permit covers an onshore area of 2,252 square kilometers in south-east Tunisia. The primary targets on the Ksar Hadada block are the Ordovician Bir Ben Tartar quartzites and the Silurian Acacus Sandstone, sourced by the basal member of the Silurian Tanezzuft Shale, which is the main source rock for North Africa.

Greg Coleman, CEO, stated:

"We are pleased that DGE has acknowledged the difficult issues that we have been facing and we look forward to working closely with ETAP to make up for lost time and completion of the revised work programme. We remain convinced that Ksar Hadada has the potential to be a significant hydrocarbon resource for the State of Tunisia and contribute to the Company's stated strategy to build a development led Exploration and Production business in the Mediterranean basin.

We will inform shareholders of further developments in due course."

Roberto Bencini, Technical Director of Independent Resources, has reviewed this announcement for the purposes of the current Guidance Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies issued by the London Stock Exchange in June 2009. Mr. Bencini is a Chartered Petroleum Geologist. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, the Geological Society of London and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.