Faroe Petroleum Plc Regulatory News (FPM)

17 Jan 2005 15:29

Faroe Petroleum PLC17 January 2005 17 January 2005 Faroe Petroleum plc ("Faroe Petroleum", "Faroe" or the "Company") Faroe Petroleum wins Licences in Faroes 2nd Licensing Round HIGHLIGHTS • Two licences awarded to Faroe Petroleum including 14 blocks and 3part-blocks covering 2,900 sq km gross o One licence covering 4 blocks and 2 part blocks awarded to Faroe Petroleum as Operator in its own right o One licence awarded to Faroe Petroleum together with Co-venturers Statoil (Operator), Shell and DONG on 10 blocks and 1 part block • Very large leads identified on both licenses Faroe Petroleum, the AIM listed oil and gas company focusing on exploration anddevelopment opportunities in the exciting and under-explored Atlantic Marginarea, announces that it has been awarded two Faroes licences in its core area,under the Faroes 2nd Licensing Round announced by the Faroes Trade and IndustryMinister today. The following awards have been made: Sildrekin (Blocks 6105/22,23,24,26,27,28,29&6005/1,2,3 part 4) - Faroe 10% This licence which covers 2,050 square kilometres, contains a very large lead in250 metres of water and is situated in an exciting new exploration provincepreviously undrilled in the western edge of the Faroe platform. The co-venturersare Statoil Faeroyene AS ("Statoil") (50% and Operator), Shell U.K. Limited(20%) DONG Foroyar P/F (20%) and Foroya Kolvetni P/F ("Faroe Petroleum") (10%).The work programme consists of seismic acquisition to identify a drillinglocation in advance of a drill or drop decision. Wyville -Thomson Ridge (Blocks 6007/21,22,23,24, part 28, part 29 - Faroe 100%) This prospective Licence covers some 850 square kilometres and has been awarded100% to the Company as Operator, and is located in 500m water depth some 170kilometres west of the BP operated Schiehallion Oilfield. The licence contains agiant lead along the axis of the Wyville-Thomson Ridge - the largest un-drilledanticline in NW Europe. The work programme consists of high technology seismicacquisition to define a well location in advance of a drill or drop decision. Faroe Petroleum is a niche oil and gas company focusing primarily on explorationand appraisal opportunities in the under explored North Atlantic Margin area.These new licence awards complement the Company's existing eight Atlantic marginlicences offshore the Faroes and the UK and further establishes Faroe Petroleumas a significant player in the region as both non-operator and operator. Thenew licence work programmes will be fully financed from the Company's existingcapital. Graham Stewart, Chief Executive of Faroe Petroleum, commented: "We are delighted with these awards, in which we have secured two very highpotential and exciting new licences in our core area, adding a third operatedlicence to our portfolio of 10 properties in the region. We are also verypleased to be working in partnership with Statoil, Shell and DONG, who all bringsignificant expertise and resources to bear." Enquiries: Faroe Petroleum plc Graham Stewart Tel: 01224 652 810 gstewart@faroe-petroleum.com Financial Dynamics Jonathon Brill/Billy Clegg Tel: 0207 831 3113 billy.clegg@fd.com Notes to editors: Detailed maps of the licences can be obtained by visitingwww.faroe-petroleum.com, or by calling Jonathon Brill at Financial Dynamics. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange