MTA.L Regulatory News (MTA)

25 Apr 2008 11:59

Matra Petroleum PLC25 April 2008 PRESS RELEASE For immediate release: 25th April 2007 Matra Petroleum plc Matra Petroleum AGM 2008 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: "2007 saw our first oil discovery and first oil production followed just beforeyear-end. Arkhangelovskoe-12 continues to produce at 100 bopd and we expectproduction to increase once an acid treatment has been completed. Road access tothe site has now been re-established and timing of the acid treatment isdependent upon the availability of the appropriate equipment in Orenburg. The process of applying for a Production License over the Sokolovskoe discoveryhas started. In the meantime we are permitted to produce discovery wells for aperiod of twelve months for extended testing. Our second well in Russia, Arkhangelovskoe-11, is approaching target depthwithin the prospective zone and we will announce the result of the well onceevaluation of the zones are complete. Earlier this year we acquired new seismic over the northern part of theSokolovskoe structure and also on the southern end of the block. This additionalseismic is currently being integrated with the existing data before finalisingthe next drilling location. Our two exploration well programme in Hungary is planned to start in early Mayand will test two features highlighted by the 2007 seismic survey and subsequentDHI modelling. Earlier this year and together with our partners Hungarian Horizon Energy (HHE)we were awarded the Mezocsokonya Exploration License which gives us furtheraccess to the prospect trend identified within the Inke Concesssion. We were very fortunate to have Sir Michael Jenkins join us as non-ExecutiveChairman in October 2007 and we have strengthened our core technical teams inboth Chertsey and Orenburg. 2007 was a very successful year for Matra and we have a very active 2008 underway. In Russia we have already established production from our first explorationwell and are nearing completion of our second well, while in Hungary we areshortly to start a two well back to back exploration drilling programme. I lookforward to reporting further on our progress throughout 2008." Matra has a 40% interest in the Mezocsokonya Exploration License and in the InkeConcession in Hungary. Hungarian Horizon Energy (HHE), a subsidiary of AspectHoldings and a leading explorer in Hungary owns the remaining 60%. Matra has a100% interest in the Arkhangelovskoe License in Russia, held through its whollyowned Russian subsidiary. For further information, please contact: Matra Petroleum www.matrapetroleum.comPeter Hind, Managing Director +44 (0) 7990 807855Neil Hodgson, Exploration Director +44 (0) 7973 342822 Aquila Financial Limited www.aquila-financial.comPeter Reilly +44 (0)118 979 4100 Notes to Editors: Matra Petroleum plc Matra is actively exploring both Hungary and Russia and is constantly reviewingnew opportunities for investment in both those areas and the other countries ofCentral and Eastern Europe. Central Europe provides significant opportunities in proven oil and gasproducing provinces in an increasingly open, stable and attractive commercialenvironment. The dependence upon oil and gas imports from other areas hasheightened the need for Central European countries to develop domesticresources. By contrast, European Russia has substantially greater oil and gas reservestypically encountered in smaller accumulations than seen in the Eastern regionsof Russia. In addition to opportunities to acquire known fields requiringfurther development and optimisation there are also low risk exploration playsthat offer potentially high rewards. Matra Petroleum shares are traded under the symbol MTA on AIM, a market operatedby London Stock Exchange. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange