PCI.L Regulatory News (PCI)

24 May 2013

Petroceltic International plc

Western Black Sea Drilling Update

Petroceltic International plc ("Petroceltic" or "the Company"), the upstream oil and gas exploration and production company focused on North Africa, the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions, today provides an update on its western Black Sea drilling operations where the GSP Prometeu jack-up drilling rig has completed the first of four wells planned for this year.

The Kamchia-1 exploration well offshore Bulgaria was designed to test a prospect located in the central area of the Galata exploration concession. The well was drilled to a total depth of 2,887 feet and encountered 56 feet of carbonate sands with sub-commercial gas saturations. The well has consequently been plugged and abandoned. The Company is currently analysing the well data with a view to updating the regional geologic model and deciding whether to enter into the final two year extension of the exploration licence later this year.

The drilling rig will now relocate to complete the suspended Kaliakra discovery well for gas production. This well will be used to supplement production from the existing single Kaliakra field development well and is expected to be brought on stream in August when the subsea tieback operations have been completed.

Subsequently, the GSP Prometeu rig will move to Romania to drill two exploration wells on the Petroceltic's Est Cobalcescu (Block 28) and Muridava (Block 27) offshore concessions. The first well will be Cobalcescu South-1 which will target two intervals in the Miocene with a chance of success of 23 percent and 36 percent, respectively, and combined unrisked prospective resources of 404 Bcf. The planned total well depth is around 3,100 metres and the well is expected to take approximately two months to complete.

The second well is Muridava-1, which is on trend with the existing Olimpiskaya and Eugenia discoveries, and has multiple targets in the Eocene, Palaeocene and Cretaceous formations with combined unrisked prospective resources of 169 Bcf and a range of chances of success between 29 percent and 43 percent. The well is expected to be drilled to a total depth of around 3,300 metres and should take approximately two months to complete.

Petroceltic has a 40% operated interest in each of the Est Cobalcescu and Muridava concessions.

Brian O'Cathain, Petroceltic's Chief Executive, commented:

"We are disappointed with the outcome of the Kamchia-1 well and plan to complete the post drill analysis prior to formulating forward plans for the Galata exploration concession. On a more positive note, the rig is moving to complete a development well on the Kaliakra gas discovery. It will then drill the Company's first exploration wells offshore Romania this summer to test two high potential, proven exploration plays in Est Cobalcescu and Muridava".

For further information, please contact:

Brian O'Cathain/Tom Hickey, Petroceltic International Tel: +353 (1) 421 8300

Philip Dennis/Rollo Crichton-Stuart,

Pelham Bell Pottinger Tel: +44 (20) 7861 3919

Joe Murray/Joe Heron, Murray Consultants Tel: +353 (1) 498 0300

John Frain/Roland French, Davy (Nomad and ESM Adviser)Tel: +353 (1) 679 6363

Dr. Dermot Corcoran, Head of Exploration, Petroceltic International plc, is the qualified person who has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this announcement. Dr. Corcoran has a B.Sc in Geology, a M.Sc. in Geophysics, and a Masters degree in Business Administration, all from the National University of Ireland, Galway. He also holds a Ph.D in Geology from Trinity College, Dublin. Dr. Corcoran has over 20 years experience in oil & gas exploration and production, and has previously worked at ExxonMobil, the Petrofina Group, and Statoil.

Glossary

Bcf: Billion cubic feet

Notes to Editors:

Petroceltic International plc is a leading Upstream Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Company, focused on North Africa, Mediterranean and Black Sea Regions, and listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM Market and the Irish Stock Exchange's ESM Market. The Company has production, exploration and development assets in Algeria, Bulgaria, Egypt, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Italy and Romania.

The resource information disclosed in this notification are the operator's estimates which have been prepared in accordance with standard industry practices and have not yet been subject to third party audit.