Europa Oil & Gas Regulatory News (EOG)

24 Nov 2005 07:01

Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) PLC24 November 2005 EUROPA OIL & GAS (HOLDINGS) PLC RESERVES UPGRADE Following a review of projects coinciding with the finalisation of the annualreport and accounts for the year ended 31 July 2005, the Directors of Europa Oil& Gas (Holdings) plc ("Europa" or the "Company") are pleased to announce areserves upgrade. 1P (Proven) Reserves On 28 September 2004, Scott Pickford Limited ("SPL"), the independentconsultants, assessed Europa's net 1P reserves at 0.369 million barrels of oilequivalent ("mmboe"), primarily from the UK producing properties. Since that evaluation, an estimated 0.369 mmboe, net to Europa, has been addedto 1P reserves in respect of the Romanian government-approved Bilca DevelopmentPlan. Also since that assessment, Europa has produced 92,000 barrels of oilfrom the UK and a further 13,000 barrels of oil equivalent of gas from Ukraine. Taking into account the Bilca addition and other minor adjustments, theresultant 1P net reserves figure is 0.656 mmboe, an increase of 78 per cent. 2P (Proven and Probable) Reserves SPL estimated Europa's 2P reserves to be 1.204 mmboe as at 28 September 2004. Since that time, an estimated 0.671 mmboe has been added to 2P reserves. Thisis based on in-house estimates from appraisal well results in Romania earlier in2005. The addition is, to a large extent, offset by a reduction in 2P reservesattributable to the West Firsby field, due to the continuing uncertainties withthe WF-8 well. The Directors are hopeful that the well can be restored tocommercial production and the reserves reinstated in the future. 2P netreserves are estimated to be 1.242 mmboe. 3P (Proven, Probable and Possible) Reserves SPL estimated Europa's 3P reserves to be 1.651 mmboe as at 28 September 2004. There is a significant increase in 3P reserves, primarily as a result of theFratauti-1 well, which proved three gas sands compared to one at Bilca,demonstrating significant upside in the Bilca play. 3P net reserves areestimated at 2.99 mmboe, an increase of 81 per cent. Contingent and Prospective Resources SPL estimated that Europa held contingent resources of up to 12.70 mmboe on 28September 2004. Due to the upgrade of the Bilca volumes to reserves status,contingent resources are now estimated to be up to 11.61 mmboe. The potentialfor 8.8 mmboe of contingent resources in the Quad 41 gas condensate project isretained within that figure. Work is continuing on exploring for the potential 28 mmboe net prospectiveresources estimated by SPL, including the current drilling of the Costisa-1 wellin Romania and planned 2006 seismic and drilling activity in both Romania andthe UK. Europa is also progressing its new ventures programme and has lodged sixapplications for further exploration acreage in three jurisdictions. Paul Barrett, Managing Director of Europa Oil & Gas, said "These reserves formthe backbone of our near-term production profile and are extremely important ingiving us the ability to fund its exploration and appraisal activity goingforward." RESERVES AND RESOURCES SUMMARY Reserves 1P mmboe 2P mmboe 3P mmboeUK 0.272 0.556 1.544Romania 0.369 0.671 1.433Ukraine 0.015 0.015 0.015Total 0.656 1.242 2.992 Contingent Resources Low Medium HighUK 1.380 4.202 8.818Ukraine 0.128 0.980 2.796Total 1.508 5.782 11.614 Prospective Resources UnriskedTotal 28.1* * Does not include the exploration potential from Whisby Exploration Area, which was added after the Scott Pickford 2004 Reserves Report. Enquiries: Europa Oil & Gas (00 33 563 33 18 97)Paul Barrett Westhouse Securities LLP (0161 838 9140)Tim Feather Also see www.europaoil.com Definitions 1P Proven, having a greater than 90 per cent. chance of being produced2P Proven plus Probable, having a greater than 50 per cent. chance of being produced3P Proven plus Probable plus Possible, having a greater than 10 per cent. chance of being produced Reserves the calculated amount of petroleum that is expected to be recovered from a well or field Contingent Resources those hydrocarbon accumulations already discovered but not yet developed Prospective Resources those potential hydrocarbon accumulations in exploration prospects This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange