RPT.L Regulatory News (RPT)

19 May 2005 07:04

Regal Petroleum PLC19 May 2005 Immediate Release 19 May 2005 REGAL PETROLEUM PLC ("Regal" or the "Company") Corporate and Operational Update Further to the recent announcements and following discussions with the Company'sadvisers, the Board of the Company wish to update the market on certaincorporate and operational matters. 1. Board Changes On 25 April 2005 the Company announced the appointments of Professor ChristopherGreen and Dr Rex Gaisford as Non-Executive Directors, effective 1 May 2005. The Board is now pleased to announce that Professor Green has agreed to becomeExecutive Director responsible for Exploration and Dr Gaisford has agreed tobecome Executive Director responsible for Production. Both appointments areeffective immediately. In addition, the Board has undertaken to split the role of Chairman and ChiefExecutive Officer currently held by Frank Timis. Mr Timis will step down asChief Executive Officer and retain the position of Executive Chairman. 2. Management Appointment The Company is in discussions to appoint a new Managing Director of itsoperations in Greece and a further announcement will be made in due course. 3. Kallirachi-2 Appraisal Well Testing Results Further to the announcement dated 18 May 2005 ("Testing Announcement") the Boardwishes to clarify the following: 1: the Evaporatic zone. Testing was completed on 16 May 2005. 2: the Kavala Gas Sands equivalent zone. Testing was completed on 3 May 2005. 3: the Prinos equivalent zone. Testing was completed on 30 April 2005. 4: the Dolomatic zone: Testing was completed on 22 April 2005. 4. Assessment of the Company's Assets by Independent Experts Industry recognised independent experts are currently evaluating data andreserves in Ukraine and Greece. As and when reports are finalised thisinformation will be announced. In addition, following completion of the first phase of the drilling programmein Romania, the Company will appoint an industry recognised independent expertto assess the data and drilling results and evaluate the reserves. Once completed these reports will be used by the Board in agreeing futurestrategic planning. 5. Greece: An Operational Update Further to the Testing Announcement, the Board wishes to make it clear that thestrategy for its operations in Greece is as follows: (i) the new Managing Director in Greece will assess the production operations at Kavala and report to the Board in due course. (ii) the new Executive Directors will oversee the evaluation of existing data for the Prinos Basin as a whole (including the Greater Kallirachi area). This process is expected to take six to nine months and only once that process has been completed will any decisions be taken with regard to further exploration drilling in the Greater Kallirachi and Prinos Basin areas. 6. Conclusion The Board believes that the quality of the Company's assets, all of which arelocated in proven hydrocarbon regions, will underpin future growth. The Companyis committed to increasing production and cash flow in order to finance anincreasing proportion of its exploration costs from self generated cash. For further information, please contact: Regal Tel: 020 7408 9500Roger Phillips, Finance Director Buchanan Communications Tel: 020 7466 5000Bobby Morse / Ben Willey Mob: 07802 875 227 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange