Europa Oil & Gas Regulatory News (EOG)

Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc / Index: AIM / Epic: EOG / Sector: Oil & Gas 23 July 2013 Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc (`Europa' or `the Company') Update re French Exploration Permits Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc, the AIM listed oil and gas exploration anddevelopment company with a combination of producing and exploration assets inEurope, announces that its two 100% held permits in the Aquitaine Basin,onshore France, Bearn des Gaves and Tarbes Val d'Adour, have not been renewedwithin the set timeframes of the renewal process. Under the terms of therespective agreements, if notification of renewal has not been received by theexpiry date then the permits are deemed to have lapsed. Europa intends to appeal this outcome for both the Bearn des Gaves and TarbesVal d'Adour permits and has submitted appeals for each permit to the relevantFrench authorities. Further updates with respect to the appeal process will beprovided by the Company as and when it is appropriate to do so. Unless theappeals are successful, total aggregate exploration costs of £1.2 millionpreviously incurred on the permits by Europa will be written off in the currentfinancial period. Europa's CEO Hugh Mackay said: "The Minister of Ecology, SustainableDevelopment and Energy is required to provide final sign-off for allexploration permits in France and we note there was a change of Minister duringthe renewal process. Our appeal for both permits to be renewed has beensubmitted to the new Minister and we will be seeking a resolution as a matterof priority. "Progress continues to be made across our licences which include production andexploration in the UK as well as high impact exploration offshore Ireland. Inthe UK, we will be drilling the Wressle Prospect later this year while inoffshore Ireland, a 3D seismic acquisition programme on Frontier ExplorationLicences 2/13 and 3/13 in which Europa holds a 15% interest is currently beingundertaken by Kosmos Energy, the operator." **ENDS** For further information please visit www.europaoil.com or contact: Hugh Mackay Europa + 44 (0) 20 7224 3770 Phil Greenhalgh Europa + 44 (0) 20 7224 3770 Matt Goode finnCap Ltd +44 (0) 20 7220 0500 Henrik Persson finnCap Ltd +44 (0) 20 7220 0500 Frank Buhagiar St Brides Media and Finance Ltd +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 Lottie Brocklehurst St Brides Media and Finance Ltd +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 Notes Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc has a diversified portfolio of multi-stagehydrocarbon assets that includes production, exploration and developmentinterests, in countries that are politically stable, have transparent licensingprocesses, and offer attractive terms. The Company currently producesapproximately 180 boepd in the UK, generating sufficient revenues to covercorporate overheads. Its highly prospective exploration projects include theWressle prospect in the UK where a well is due to be drilled later in 2013; anda joint venture with leading independent Kosmos Energy to explore two licencesin offshore Ireland in which Europa has identified two prospects with estimatedgross mean un-risked indicative resources of 482 million barrels oil and 1.6billion barrels oil respectively.