Europa Oil & Gas Regulatory News (EOG)

27 Mar 2007 07:00

Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc Award of Licence

The Directors of Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc, the production and exploration company, are pleased to announce that the Bĩarn des Gaves permit was awarded on the 23rd March 2007. The licence, which covers an area of 928 km2 of the Aquitaine Basin in southwest France, is valid for up to five years.

Europa's work commitment under this licence is for the evaluation of existing seismic data in the first year, followed by two optional phases: the acquisition of 100km of 2D seismic in the second year and the drilling of an exploration well to 2,500m thereafter.

The licence lies immediately west of the Lacq and Meillon Gasfields, which contain combined estimated initial recoverable gas reserves of 12 trillion cubic feet. The main exploration potential in the Bĩarn des Gaves licence is the continuation of this hydrocarbon play under the Pyrenean thrust zone. Previous exploration has confirmed commercial gas beneath this thrust zone 20km to the south, with the Saucede and Ledeuix gasfields (in production 1981-1997). Modern exploration methods will greatly improve the chances of finding larger hydrocarbon traps under the thrust zone to the west of Lacq and it is here that Europa will be concentrating its exploration effort.

Paul Barrett, Managing Director, said "This area, the equivalent of 5 UK North Sea blocks, has not seen drilling for almost 20 years, despite its proximity to world-class reserves in an area with a well-developed gas infrastructure. It is a prime candidate for the use of modern exploration techniques to identify new commercial reserves in a proven basin".

About Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc

Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc focuses on the production and exploration of hydrocarbons in Europe and North Africa. Europa currently produces 600 barrels of oil equivalent per day from its operations in the UK, Romania and the Ukraine. Operating a balanced portfolio, Europa also has field appraisal and exploration activity on a number of projects in the UK and Romania and a strong new ventures programme across Europe and the North African region.

For more information please visit www.europaoil.com

For further information, contact:

Paul Barrett, Managing Director, Europa Oil & Gas +33 5 63 33 18 97

Jonathan Wright or Parimal Kumar, Seymour Pierce +44 20 7107 8000

Review by Qualified Person

The technical information and opinions contained in this announcement have been reviewed by Paul Barrett B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc., Managing Director of Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc, who is a geologist with 25 years mainstream oil and gas experience.