Business
Farm-out
Farm-out.
About this update from Ascent Resources Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n Ascent Resources PLC\n01 August 2007\n\n\n Ascent Resources plc / Epic: AST / Index: AIM / Sector: Oil and Gas\n\n\n1st August 2007\n\n\n Ascent Resources plc ('Ascent' or 'the Company')\n\n Signs Farm-out agreement for Cento and Bastiglia in Italy's Po Valley\n\n\nAscent Resources plc, the AIM-traded oil and gas exploration and production\ncompany, has entered into an agreement with Deltana Energy Limited ('Deltana')\nof Australia to farm-out a 50% interest in the 1,113 sq km Cento and Bastiglia\nexploration permits in the Po Valley of Italy.\n\n\nThe Po Valley, which extends across the northern part of Italy from Turin in the\nwest to Venice and Ravenna in the east, is the one of the most productive areas\nfor gas and oil onshore in Europe. Since the first production in the 1950s,\nover 130 fields have been put on production. Ascent's exploration permits,\nlocated in the central part of the Po Plain near the cities of Modena to the\nsouth, Mantova to the north and Bologna to the south east, are among the largest\nin the region.\n\n\nUnder the terms of the agreement, Deltana will pay the cost of the first\nexploration well and, on success, will pay the cost of a second exploration\nwell. The first well targets a Pliocene prospect in the western part of the\npermits at a depth of about 2,400m and the second, one of the other prospects in\nthe permits. Deltana will also contribute to the historical costs on the permit\nand pay the first €1.5 million of future seismic expenditure.\n\n\nAscent Resources Managing Director Jeremy Eng said, 'The terms of this farm-in\nconfirm our belief of the exceptional quality of the Cento and Bastiglia\nexploration acreage. New exploration techniques have improved the chance of\nsuccess in gas exploration, which in the Po Valley is already better than 1 in 4\nover the period since the 1950s.'\n\n\nGeoffrey Bone CEO of Deltana said, 'Our entry into the Po Valley permits\nrepresents a great strategic fit with Deltana's proposed Mediterranean strategy.\nThis is focussed on participating in low cost onshore exploration in low risk\nand highly profitable gas producing provinces with established infrastructure.\nAscent's portfolio in the Po Valley matches our criteria perfectly.'\n\n\n * * ENDS * *\n\n\nFor further information visit www.ascentresources.co.uk or contact:\n\nJeremy Eng Ascent Resourc...