NAUT.L Regulatory News (NAUT)

31 May 2005 07:01

Global Energy Development PLC31 May 2005 31 May 2005 GLOBAL ENERGY DEVELOPMENT PLC NEW TECHNICAL EVALUATION AGREEMENT SIGNED IN COLOMBIA VALLE LUNAR AREA WITHIN LLANOS BASIN SIGNIFICANT UPLIFT IN ACREAGE POSITION Global Energy Development PLC ("Global" or the "Company"), the Latin Americafocused petroleum exploration and production company (LSE-AIM: "GED"), announcesthat it has signed a new exclusive Technical Evaluation Agreement ("TEA") withthe National Hydrocarbons Agency of the Republic of Colombia ("ANH") for theevaluation of potential hydrocarbon resources in the Valle Lunar area located inthe established Llanos Basin of eastern Colombia. The total acreage covered bythe TEA is approximately 2.1 million acres. The Valle Lunar TEA enlarges Global's acreage position by approximately 70% to5.1 million acres held in Colombia, Peru and Panama under six contracts, oneexclusive TEA and one concluded exclusive TEA currently under negotiation to beconverted into an exclusive contract. Global holds100% ownership of allcontracts. The Valle Lunar area has been subject to prior exploration activity by aninternational petroleum company in 1981 with two exploration wells reported asoil productive at that time. The Valle Lunar TEA targets medium heavy oildeposits and grants Global the exclusive option to sign a future exclusiveExploration and Production Concession contract ("Contract"), typicallyapproximately 25 years in duration, for acreage within the TEA area that Globalidentifies as prospective and suitable for exploratory drilling and productionoperations. The TEA duration is 16 months. The TEA requires Global to complete within 12 months the reprocessing andinterpretation of 800 linear kilometres of existing 2D seismic and certain othergeophysical measurements and analysis, including the acquisition of aeromagneticdata. Aeromagnetic surveys provide a fast, low-cost method of structurallymapping large areas and the Company intends to identify subsurface geologicfeatures within the 2.1 million acres with geophysical characteristics similarto other large, producing Llanos Basin fields. Global intends funding the work program required under the TEA from cashflowfrom production with production currently being achieved from four out of theCompany's six contracts. Total costs incurred under the TEA are expected tototal approximately $544,000. Commenting on the new Colombian agreement, Stephen Voss, Managing Director ofGlobal Energy Development PLC, stated: "We are extremely excited about our new Valle Lunar TEA located in theestablished Llanos Basin region and where industry experts have predicted thereis considerable further potential pointing to the known highly effectivepetroleum system and its analogy with the heavy oil belt of Venezuela. The Company believes it is an area of significant medium heavy oil reserveswhich is of a less expensive and technically straightforward class to extract,as substantiated by data already available. Medium heavy oil has become ofparamount importance to the oil industry as it and heavy oil are expected toincreasingly dominate the world's hydrocarbon reserves and future refinery feedstocks.. We will seek to evaluate large potential reservoirs using the latestaeromagnetic techniques and based upon the results of our geophysical efforts,the Company anticipates signing a Concession contract and proceeding withshallow borehole testing in late 2006. We anticipate the potential deposits to be at shallow depths requiringrelatively modest costs and look forward to commencing our work programme andexploration efforts under this TEA against a backdrop of production from severalcontracts we hold." For further information: Global Energy Development PLC Catherine Miles, director of investor relations +44 (0) 207 808 5550www.globalenergyplc.com +44 (0) 7909918034 Notes to Editors: Global holds exclusive contracts and rights to explore for and / or produce oiland gas from a geographically diversified portfolio of prospective acreage inColombia, Panama and Peru. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange