GEEC.L Regulatory News (GEEC)

5 Jul 2007 07:00

Great Eastern Energy Corp Ltd05 July 2007 5 July, 2007 Great Eastern Energy Corporation Ltd. ("Great Eastern", "GEECL" or the "Company") Environmental clearance obtained Great Eastern (AIM: GEEC.L) is pleased to announce that it has receivedenvironmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (Governmentof India) for the exploration, production and commercial production of Coal BedMethane ("CBM") from its licence area in the Raniganj Coalfields, West Bengal.India. This follows the approval of Great Eastern's field development programmeby the Directorate of Hydrocarbons in March 2007. Great Eastern's pioneering initiative, the first of its kind in India, will leadto the demethanisation of coal beds across the entirety of the licence area.This will result in the prevention of harmful methane emissions being releasedinto the atmosphere, whilst simultaneously harnessing this potentialenvironmental hazard into an efficient energy resource. The Environmental clearance has been granted for the first time to a CBM projectin India. This gives GEEC regulatory clearance to drill further wells and marksthe achievement of yet another milestone for the Company. GEECL has already drilled 23 production wells and proposes to drill a further 80production wells in a phased manner over a period of 3 years. The fielddevelopment plan encompasses a pipeline structure and a Gas Gathering Stationwhich will provide the necessary infrastructure to centralise, pressurise anddistribute the gas to customers. Mr. YK Modi, Chairman and CEO, GEECL commented; "We are delighted to have obtained environmental clearance for our developmentprogramme and are looking forward to starting commercial production. TheGovernment of India continues to promote the use of non conventional, lesspolluting energy sources. CBM offers one alternative energy source and we aredelighted to have received another indication of the Government's continuedsupport for our pioneering project." -ENDS- For further information: Great Eastern EnergyYK Modi Chairman & CEO + 44 (0) 20 3008 5509Prashant Modi President & COO Pelham Public RelationsPhilip Dennis +44 (0)20 3008 5509Hugh Barker Arden PartnersRichard Day +44 (0)20 7398 1632Steve Pearce About GEECL: Great Eastern Energy Corporation Ltd. ("Great Eastern") raised £19m in December2005 through an admission of Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) on the AIMmarket. The Company has a notional market capitalization of £176 million. Great Eastern holds a licence to explore for CBM in the 210 sq km block in theRaniganj Coalfields, West Bengal. In a report dated June 1, 2007, Netherland,Sewell and Associates, Inc. (NSAI) put the Original Gas-in-Place (OGIP) at 1.92TCF, which is an increase of 38.5% from the previous report used at the time ofthe floatation of the Company in December 2005. The NSAI report was prepared inaccordance with 2000 petroleum resources definitions approved by the Society ofPetroleum Engineers (SPE), World Petroleum Council (WPC), and AmericanAssociation of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG). In accordance with the standards,the OGIP will move into reserves after entering into commercial off-takecontracts and providing established production profiles. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange