Urals Energy Plc Regulatory News (UEN)

12 Feb 2007 07:02

Urals Energy Public Company Limited12 February 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Urals Energy Public Company Limited Financing, Management and Operational Update Urals Energy ("Urals Energy" or the "Group") (LSE: UEN) a leading independentexploration and production company with operations in Russia announces theclosing of its previously announced financing agreement, key managementappointments and commencement of fracture stimulation operations. Initial Closing of Debt Financing Urals Energy announces that the $130 million project development loan for OOODulisma, arranged by Goldman Sachs and funded by Standard Bank, was closed on 9February 2007. A first tranche funding of $50 million has been received, and the remaining $80million is expected to be funded in approximately three weeks after approval byUrals Energy's senior bank syndicate. As previously announced, the $130 million gross financing proceeds will be usedto reimburse Urals Energy for planned development costs incurred at Dulismasince the field's acquisition in June 2006, the defeasance of cash interestpayments for the first two years of the facility, and the remainder, for futurecapital and operating costs of Dulisma in order to develop the Dulisminskoyefield to its projected peak production level of 30,000 BOPD by 2011. The receipt of this first tranche and the expected timing on the remainingfunding allows Urals Energy to work to the accelerated development timetable forTransneft's East Siberia Pacific Ocean pipeline, now under construction. Key Management Appointments To reflect the ongoing growth of the company, Urals Energy is pleased toannounce the appointment of three new key management personnel. William S. Hayes has been appointed Senior Vice President and General Counsel.Mr Hayes will act as chief legal officer of the Company and is responsible forall Group legal activities. Mr. Hayes has over 25 years experience as an international energy lawyer withAndrews & Kurth, British Gas, Vanco Energy Company and Cardinal Resources plc.He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin (B.J.) and St. Mary'sUniversity School of Law (J.D.). Maxim V. Bezriadin has been appointed Vice President and Business Unit Manager,East Siberia where he will be responsible for Urals Energy's activities in EastSiberia. This is a new core area for Urals Energy and includes the importantDulisminskoye oil, gas and condensate field. Mr. Bezriadin, a native of Irkutsk, was most recently Chief Executive of OJSCVerkhnochonskneftegaz, a company jointly owned by Rosneft and TNK-BP. Mr.Bezriadin previously worked for British Petroleum in Russia. He is a graduate ofthe University of Maryland (B.S. Business), Irkutsk State University (M.S.International Economics) and Ural State Economic University (Ph.D. inEconomics). Stephen D. Kirton has been appointed Vice President, Technical Services. Mr.Kirton is responsible for managing Urals Energy's subsurface technical analysisincluding geology, geophysics, reservoir engineering and reserves reporting. Hewill also be responsible for license compliance. Mr. Kirton has over 25 years experience as both a geologist and productionengineer and has specialized in Russian and FSU oil exploration and productionsince 1991. He has served with Gulf Canada, KomiArctic Oil, Harvest NaturalResources and Lundin Petroleum. He is a graduate of the University of Waterloo(B.S. Earth Science). Commencement of Initial Fracture Stimulation Program Urals Energy also announces that it has commenced fracture stimulationoperations at its producing subsidiary OAO Petrosakh on Sakhalin Island. Aninitial four-well stimulation program has begun on the Okruzhnoye field During 2006, Urals Energy acquired and refurbished a Canadian-built fracturestimulation fleet consisting of three pumping units and blender. Urals Energyplans to fracture stimulate a total of nine wells at Petrosakh, and then movethe equipment to the Komi Republic later this year, where it will continuefracture stimulating an additional five fields. William R. Thomas, CEO, Commented: "The closing of the Dulisma project loan is a key milestone in the developmentof this important field and with the appointment today of three key personal,including Maxim Bezriadin, who will be responsible for this field and otheroperations in Eastern Siberia, we are well prepared to meet all our targets onthis project. Our planned fracture stimulation program at Petrosakh has now commenced and wehope to report on progress as we work to increase production on this field. We continue to put the building blocks in place and as we grow we recognize theimportance of adding to our management ranks. As such, we are pleased to haveexecutives who have solid experience operating in Russia join our team." 12 February 2007 Pelham PRJames Henderson 020 7743 6673Gavin Davis 020 7743 6677 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange