Europa Oil & Gas Regulatory News (EOG)

5 Jun 2006 07:00

For Release - 5 June 2006 Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc Licence Update The Directors of Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc, the production andexploration company, are pleased to announce that the Romanian National Agencyfor Mineral Resources has approved an extension of up to three years and changeof Operatorship for the EPI-3 concession. Europa will operate the concession,situated in the East Carpathians, with a 33.3% working interest, Czech partnerMND holding the remainder. A side agreement gives Europa an 80% beneficialinterest in the eastern part of the block, containing the Costisa-1Z well, anda 20% interest in the western part of the block.Both Europa and MND recognise further prospectivity in the Block, which liesimmediately north of the Moinesti oilfields and immediately west of the 600bcfRoman gasfield. Testing the Burdigalian gas shows encountered in Costisa-1Z isan initial priority with the re-entry and testing of these gas sandsanticipated to take place in summer 2006. Further potential around the Geamanaand Tazlaul Mare fields will also be assessed.Costisa-1Z was suspended for later re-entry in December 2005, followingencountering strong gas shows in Burdigalian sands at a depth of approximately1,000 metres. It was not technically justifiable to test these sands in theoriginal borehole, as they had been exposed to heavy drilling muds for overthree months before being logged and cased. Consequently, a short sidetrackaway from the damaged zone is planned with a drill stem test.Whilst the logs were of poor quality due to excessive borehole size in theoriginal hole, they confirmed the gas shows were from the upper 25 metres of a50 metre sandstone-prone unit with up to 20% porosity. If the initial test issuccessful, it could be extended to provide detailed reservoir performance dataand the gas exported into the nearby pipeline system.Paul Barrett, Managing Director, said "I am personally looking forward to thistest with great anticipation. There are indications on the seismic data thatthis play extends northwards from Costisa. If successful, its modest depth andproximity to the gas pipeline system will minimise development costs".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 18 97Jonathan Wright / Parimal Kumar, Seymour Pierce Limited +44 20 7107 8000Jade Mamarbachi / Toby Hall, gth media relations +44 20 7153 8035EUROPA OIL & GAS (HOLDINGS) PLC