MTA.L Regulatory News (MTA)

28 Jul 2006 10:30

Matra Petroleum PLC28 July 2006 PRESS RELEASEFor immediate release: 28th July 2006 Matra Petroleum plc Matra Petroleum AGM The Directors of Matra Petroleum plc are pleased to announce that allresolutions were duly passed at the company's AGM held earlier today. Peter Hind, Matra's Managing Director issued the following statement: "2005 was the formation year for Matra Petroleum and it was only at the end ofthe year that the opportunity in Hungary was identified. There is thereforelittle to report for 2005. Since I joined Matra in January this year we have made huge progress for a smallcompany with few staff. The first quarter of 2006 was largely concerned with thepreparations for the company's readmission to AIM, the reverse takeover of InkePetroleum (that provided the 100% interest in the Inke Concession in Hungary)and the raising of £8 million. At the same time we were preparing to drill ourfirst well. This was all completed by early April when we changed our name to MatraPetroleum plc (formerly Ming Resources plc) to reflect the nature of ourbusiness and our area of focus. (Matra takes its name from a mountain range inHungary.) In the 31/2 months that followed the fund-raising we have: • drilled our first well • reprocessed the 3-D seismic data • reprocessed 2-D data • remapped the 3-D data • begun AVO modelling work • commenced a review of the existing discoveries on the block in addition to reviewing several new opportunities in Hungary and surroundingcountries. Although unsuccessful the Blue Topaz-9 well was completed within budget, andleaves the company well funded for further drilling and operations on the block.More importantly the well provided encouraging hydrocarbon shows and extensivesand development, and allowed us to acquire critical data for the AVO modelling.This modelling may help us to use the seismic data to predict the presence ofhydrocarbons prior to drilling. These exploration studies are progressing well and given the low cost, comparedto drilling, it is important to maximise the benefits of this work beforedefining our ongoing drilling programme on the block. The work will be completedin early September and we will be making a further announcement on ourexploration programme at that time. The Hungarian Authorities have once again demonstrated their commitment todeveloping domestic resources by providing a 2 year extension to the concession.Given the huge area of the concession (2,297 sq kms), this is most beneficial. We are continuing to review opportunities in both exploration and production inHungary and other countries of Central Europe with the clear objective of addingshareholder value through low risk exploration and establishing early cash flow. We have now established a small UK office in Chertsey in addition to ouroperational office in Budapest. Our Board and technical capability were bothstrengthened substantially in May when Neil Hodgson joined us as ExplorationDirector and we hope to strengthen the board further by appointing a UK basednon-Executive Chairman. The Board, the staff and consultants of Matra have all worked incredibly hard toachieve so much in a short time and will continue to do so to achieve ourobjectives for 2006." For further information, please contact: Matra Petroleum www.matrapetroleum.comPeter Hind, Managing Director +44 (0) 7990 807 855 Aquila Financial Limited www.aquila-financial.comPeter Reilly +44 (0) 20 7202 2601Ross Bethell +44 (0) 20 7202 2603 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange