Europa Oil & Gas Regulatory News (EOG)

2 May 2006 08:48

For immediate release: Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc Egypt Licence Award The Board of Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc - AIM: EOG - the hydrocarbonproduction and exploration company, is very pleased to announce that Europa hasbeen offered the West Darag exploration concession by the Egyptian GeneralPetroleum Corporation (`EGPC') as a result of an application in the EGPC 2005bidding round. The award is subject to government approvals and execution of aProduction Sharing Agreement (`PSA') with EGPC.The concession covers a large under-explored onshore area in excess of 5,300km2 (1.3 million acres or the equivalent of 25 UK North Sea blocks). It lies onthe northwestern margin of the Gulf of Suez and has a Mesozoic sequence similarto that in the prolific Egyptian Western Desert oil province.Saharan Africa, with resources of over 160 billion barrels equivalent, half ofthis in Mesozoic basins, is becoming vital to the European oil and gas markets.Egypt in particular had 36 oil and gas discoveries in 2005 alone and continuesto deliver exploration success in both new and established plays.Paul Barrett, Managing Director, said, "This is a highly significant award forEuropa and part of our new venture programme across Saharan North Africa,coming quickly on the heels of two very large licence awards in Western Sahara.We look forward to exploring West Darag and will release a more detailedtechnical review of the concession area once the PSA is signed."About Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plcEuropa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc - AIM: EOG - focuses on the production andexploration of hydrocarbons in Europe and North Africa. It currently produces210 barrels of oil per day from UK onshore fields and 25 barrels of oilequivalent from the Ukraine. Production is expected to rise significantly afterits Romanian Bilca Gas Project comes onstream later this year. Operating abalanced portfolio, Europa currently has field appraisal activity on projectsin the UK Southern Gas Basin and onshore Romania and exploration activity on afurther eight licences across the Europe - North Africa region. For moreinformation please visit www.europaoil.com.Further information:Paul Barrett, Managing Director, Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc +33 5 63 33 1897Jonathan Wright / Parimal Kumar, Seymour Pierce Limited +44 20 7107 8000Jade Mamarbachi / Toby Hall, gth media relations +44 20 7153 8035Source: Attree M. et al, 2006, Application of Regional Geological Analysis toMesozoic Rifts on the North African Continental Margin. Petroleum Systems ofSaharan Africa Conference, London.Source: IHS Energy GEPS Report December 2005EUROPA OIL & GAS (HOLDINGS) PLC