PTR.L Regulatory News (PTR)

7 Jul 2008 07:00

PetroNeft Resources plc

Russian Reserves Update

PetroNeft Resources plc ('PetroNeft' or 'the Company'), owner and operator of Licence 61, Tomsk Oblast, Russian Federation, is pleased to provide an update on the approval of its reserves by Russian State Authorities. 

Highlights

Russian Reserves approved by the State Reserves Expertise Committee in Tyumen

Russian C1+C2 reserves are 74.8 million bbls

Reserves exceed SPE Reserves (2P 60.6 million bbls) as audited by Ryder Scott

Approved Russian Reserves

The Tyumen based West-Siberian branch of the Federal State Institution - State Reserves Committee have recently certified the Russian Reserves of LLC Stimul-T, PetroNeft's wholly owned subsidiary, as shown on the following table:

The approved reserves are based on PetroNeft's work program up to 31 December 2007 and do not include any reserves in respect of the recent discovery at Korchegskaya. Russian C1+C2 reserves are calculated based on a different approach and are not directly comparable to SPE 2P reserves, but generally should be in alignment. In PetroNeft's case the Russian reserves are based on a detailed reservoir simulation of the fields using modern modeling technology.

Dennis Francis, Chief Executive Officer of PetroNeft Resources plc commented:

"This is an important step in the Russian compliance process and in the path to bringing our fields to production in 2009. While there has been a lot of effort involved in the reserve calculation it has been a smooth process thanks to our Tomsk staff and local contractors."

For further information, contact:

Dennis Francis, CEO, PetroNeft Resources plc,

+1 713 988 2500

Paul Dowling, CFO, PetroNeft Resources plc

+353 1 4433720

Desmond Burke, Director Investor Relations, PetroNeft Resources plc

+353 52 53226

John Frain/Brian Garrahy, Davy

+353 1 679 6363

Jonathan Marren/Matt Goode, KBC Peel Hunt

+44 207 418 8900

Nick Elwes/Paddy Blewer, College Hill

+44 207 457 2020

The information contained in this announcement has been reviewed and verified by Mr. Dennis Francis, Director and Chief Executive Officer of PetroNeft, for the purposes of the Guidance Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies issued by the London Stock Exchange in March 2006. Mr. Francis holds a B.S. Degree in Geophysical Engineering and a M.S. Degree in Geology from the Colorado School of Mines. He has also graduated from the Harvard University Program for Management Development. He is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. He has over 35 years experience in oil and gas exploration and development.

Forward Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements relate to the Company's future prospects, developments and business strategies. Forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as 'believe', 'could', 'envisage', 'potential', 'estimate', 'expect', 'may', 'will' or the negative of those, variations or comparable expressions, including references to assumptions.

The forward-looking statements in this announcement are based on current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by those statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as at the date of this announcement.