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Meridian Petroleum PLC
04 April 2006

MERIDIAN PETROLEUM PLC
('Meridian' or 'the Company')

VICTORY 1-21 SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED


Meridian, the oil & gas exploration and production company with key assets in
the USA and Australia today announced that the Victory 1-21 production well (10%
WI) has been successfully deepened in order to further penetrate a Niagaran
reef.

Using a coiled tubing unit and conventional work over rig, Total Depth was
reached at 4,394 feet and gas communication was made between 4,161 feet and
4,192 feet, an increase of approximately 31 feet in net pay. The well was
treated with acid to stimulate flow and is currently being swabbed to remove
remaining acid from the well bore following which the well will be put back on
line this week. It is anticipated that enhanced production rates will be gained
from the additional pay sections in the reservoir.

Anthony Mason, Chief Executive of Meridian said:

'The successful deepening of Victory 1-21 is good news for Meridian. The well
will be back on line this week, following which Meridian will resume receiving
income from Victory 1-21. We are now looking forward to the imminent completion
on Calvin 36.'

Don Caldwell, a certified petroleum geologist, is the Company's Qualified Person
and has reviewed the information in this announcement.


Enquiries:


Meridian Petroleum (020 7409 5041)
Tony Mason, Chief Executive

Westhouse Securities (020 7601 6100)
Richard Morrison

Citigate Dewe Rogerson (020 7638 9571)
Media enquiries: Martin Jackson / George Cazenove
Analyst enquiries: Nina Soon


This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange ND

yes

word is meridian is producing well and the orion field although small it has over 4BCF of gas and NGL recoverable. The company has recently had a change of management leaving tony mason the ex CEO with over 24 million shares in hand
although the market excepts meridian is currently trading at a large discount to fair value his holding requires attention . another problem the company have is that while the market awaits clarification select houses are bombarding and spamming bill boards "advfn , iii " to discourage buying .

onion field = small potato field?

Small potatoes maybe - but that which matters, like the vegetable, is underground and when extracted may "well" be larger than expected

Thanks to everyone for their replies.

Maxtor, do you anticipate any further share dilution considering the income they now get from Orion? To me it doesn't look as though they need to raise any money short term.

W1zzard, do you think the ex CEO will be forced sell part of his holding at these prices? Surely he must know what the true value is here? I see he is after the Australian assets, is that why he might need to sell?

Tau Ceti, I think they could price this at a penny and still hardly anybody would buy it, really ridiculous.

or blighted - lol!

tau you cannot force anyone to sell

with a cash value of 4-6 cents a share and rising, $3.5 million invested in orion

with this alone you would need to pay at least $8 million plus the P1 value

Tau, share dilution is not always about raising capital, they can bu used as a back door in or out of deals not yet sealed.
At some point they have to consolidate if no business expansion has been acheived, making a good opportunity for takeover bid.
However re these shares being further diluted, only the management can answer this, but it has been diluted every year up to now,
we can only draw our own conclusions.
regards max

Maxtor & W1zzard, once again thanks for your replies. It gives me something to ponder upon.

Orion has alot more gas than stated....this is usual with gas fields..they can produce for 1o years or more

Nice to see a lot of posters here, really good debate, we might even convince Cynic to become a shareholder at some stage, (miracles sometimes do happen).

Unfortunatley for Cynic, he/ she believes their opinion counts,LOL.

cynic is singing to his own tune as are all derampers and rampers just look at the facts

i take it you mean facts like the way the share has performed ...... see below both 5 year and 6 month

This surley is the time to be buying then cynic? or do you prefer to buy at 50p and watch it drop to 5p then work its way back to around 30p which is what will happen here.

sore from today's markets as i feel, MRP really does not look like the right oily dfor me (or anyone else) ..... i am tempted to put it in the same bracket as EME though that may be a little unfair .... if you like the sector and what something a bit different, take a look at CRA

get into EEL..will be 20p by friday..trust me

A rise today , hurray !, crafty old Cynic I knew he would jump in at some stage.

Wizzard why would bashers want to discourage buying ? I am invested and see them hammering advfn and iii? It does annoy me.

Pennies make pounds Cynic!! Orion income will pay for the developement of the next asset or two so that MRP don't have to go back to the market for more cash. How many of the other small oilers are in that position?