PCI.L Regulatory News (PCI)

1 Jun 2005 07:03

Petroceltic International PLC01 June 2005 1 June 2005 ALGERIAN LICENCE RATIFICATION Petroceltic is pleased to report that it has received nonfictions fromSonatrach, the Algerian state oil company that its Production Sharing Contract(PSC) covering the Isarene contract area in the Illizi basin of southern Algeriahas now entered in to force having been approved by Presidential Decree. Thisallows Petroceltic to commence oil and gas exploration, appraisal and productionactivities within the contract area. John Craven CEO of Petroceltic commented " We are delighted that Petroceltic'sPSC has been fully ratified by the Algerian authorities and we can nowconfidently look forward to an active drilling campaign scheduled for later thisyear and continuing in to 2006. We are also pleased that the hydrocarbonpotential of this part of the Illizi basin has been recently endorsed by BP'sapplication for and award last month of two blocks immediately adjacent to ours". Information on Petroceltic's Isarene Contract Area Contract: Production SharingPartners: Petroceltic 75%, Sonatrach 25%Area: 10, 871 sq kms (43 UK North Sea Blocks)Existing Discoveries: 8 Gas, 1 Oil and GasExisting Seismic Data: 8,872 kms of 2 D dataNearest Infrastructure: Gas TFT 80 kms, Oil 20 kmsDiscovered Reserves:* Gas 380 billion cubic feet Oil 28 million barrelsPotential:* Gas 4.6 trillion cubic feet Oil 400 million barrels *Sonatrach Estimate Algeria Petroleum Information Reserves: 37.9 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe)% of World Reserves: 2.6% Gas, 1% oil Supplies 29% of Europe's gas imports, 15% of Europe's gas consumption. Europe's gas requirements to increase by 46% by 2010. Algeria set to increase production by 40% by 2010 major new infrastructureunderway. For further information, call: John Craven, Petroceltic International plc 00353 1495 9285Billy Clegg/Caroline Stewart, Financial Dynamics 020 7831 3113 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange