Tower Resources Regulatory News (TRP)

8 Feb 2007 07:00

Tower Resources PLC08 February 2007 PRESS RELEASE8 February 2007 Update on Company Activities and Placing • Uganda o 2D Seismic survey to commence in July with a view to drilling in 2008 o Other Operators reporting exploration success • Namibia o Reprocessed data highlighted potential for commercial gas reserves o 2D Seismic survey in planning for late 2007 • Placing o £500,000 raised in Placing of New Ordinary Shares Tower Resources plc ("Tower" or "the Company") (AIM: TRP), the independent oiland gas exploration company with exploration licences in Uganda and Namibia ispleased to report that good progress has been made with operational planning inUganda and detailed technical evaluation work for Namibia. These assets wereacquired by Tower in a merger with Neptune Petroleum Limited approved byshareholders on 16 January, 2006. Uganda In Uganda, a Land Satellite Imaging survey and a geological field survey arecurrently underway to investigate the presence or otherwise of surface oilseeps. The presence of seeps would confirm that oil has been generated underBlock 5; however the lack of seeps would not significantly reduce theprospectivity of the Licence. A contract has been signed with IMC GeophysicalInternational Limited under which they will acquire 250 kilometres of seismicdata. This operation is estimated to begin in July. The intention is to completethe interpretation of this data and to begin drilling a well early in 2008,planning for which will begin soon. Other operators in Licences to the south of Block 5 have continued to havesuccess. Tullow, now 100% owner of Block 2, has confirmed two discoveries andHeritage, Block 3A, has encountered productive oil reservoirs at two depthlevels in Kingfisher-1. The latter well is still drilling to evaluate a largestructure in the deeper area of their basin. Tullow, northern Block 2, andHeritage, Block 1, both have plans to extend their seismic coverage towards thesouthern boundary of Block 5. Tullow have announced plans for a significantexploration and appraisal well programme in Block 2, including wells in thenorth of the Licence. These programmes, when added to Tower's own activities,will amount to a significant assessment of the potential of the AlbertineGraben. This will increase the likelihood of proving up sufficient oil reservesto support a pipeline from the operational areas. It also means that there willbe regular news flow, throughout 2007, as exploration in Uganda proceeds. Namibia In Namibia, a geochemical study to assess source rock maturity and a sea surfaceoil seeps survey by satellite imaging, were completed. The geochemicalassessment has confirmed that three out of four potential source rocks arelikely to be mature with significant areas at peak maturity. The seep study hasindicated the possible presence of natural liquid hydrocarbons slicks atsurface, to the south and east of the Dolphin Graben (the deepest sedimentarysequence in the Licence). It was decided to investigate specific aspects ofinterest arising from the initial evaluation programme in more detail byundertaking reprocessing and AVO analysis of six selected seismic lines. Thisdetailed assessment was designed to improve the interpretation of gasindications in prospective structures. These analyses have highlighted thepotential for commercial gas reserves in the northern part of the Licence,particularly in a very large structure to the west of, but adjacent to thedeepest "kitchen" area of the Dolphin Graben. The immediate explorationprogramme, including a 2-D seismic survey later this year, will be directed atinvestigating the potential of this structure. Placing of new ordinary shares The Company today announces that it has raised £500,000 through the issue of25,000,000 new ordinary shares ("Placing Shares") to an existing institutionalshareholder at a price of 2p per ordinary share. This follows on from the issue of new ordinary shares at the same price, toAgile Energy Limited, which was first announced to the market on 21 December2006. The funds will be used for the development of its existing oil and gasassets, the expansion of its oil and gas portfolio and for general workingcapital purposes. Application has been made for the Placing Shares to be admitted to trading onAIM and dealings are expected to commence at 8.00 a.m. on 13 February 2007.Following the admission of the Placing Shares the total number of voting rightsin the Company will be 458,333,333. Tower does not hold any ordinary shares inTreasury. The above figure (458,333,333) may be used by shareholders as the denominatorfor the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notifytheir interest in, or a change to their interest in, Tower under the FSA'sDisclosure and Transparency Rules. Tower Resources Executive Chairman, Peter Kingston, said "We have made distinct progress in evaluating the potential of our explorationacreage in Uganda and Namibia during 2006. In 2007, we anticipate undertaking 2Dseismic surveys in particular areas of interest with a view to be drilling inUganda in 2008. Further updates will be provided at regular intervals asmaterial progress is made in both operations." For further information, please contact: Tower Resources plcPeter Kingston, Executive Director 01985 211780 www.towerresources.co.uk Corporate SynergyJohn Prior 020 7448 4400 Aquila Financial LimitedPeter Reilly/Ross Bethell 020 7202 2600 www.aquila-financial.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange