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http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201012220700054060Y

Ascent Resources PLC
Drilling of Pg-11 in Slovenia
RNS Number : 4060Y
Ascent Resources PLC
22 December 2010

Ascent Resources plc / Epic: AST / Index: AIM / Sector: Oil and Gas

22 December 2010

Ascent Resources plc ('Ascent' or 'the Company')

Drilling of Pg-11 in Slovenia Commences



Ascent Resources plc, the AIM-traded oil and gas exploration and production company, yesterday commenced drilling the Pg-11 evaluation well in the Petişovci field, a part of the Petişovci-Lovaszi Project in Slovenia and Hungary.

The Pg-11 well is the first to be drilled by Ascent in the Petişovci-Lovaszi project area and the first for 30 years to be drilled in the field area. Recently, the Company announced an independently verified P50 estimate of gas-in-place of 412 Bcf (11.7 Bm3; 68.7 MMboe) for the project area.

The primary objective of the Pg-11 well is to collect state-of-the-art data in order to assist in optimising the re-development of the gas field using the technological advances of the last 30 years. Consequently, the evaluation programme will include core sampling, extensive wireline logging and testing, and the data set will allow 3-D seismic calibration and enhancement of the geological model of the whole project area.

The Pg-11 well is being drilled using Crosco International's Cardwell 1 drilling unit and preliminary results are expected to be available in February 2011. The start of the drilling was delayed by a few days due to the poor weather conditions in the past two weeks and stringent certification procedures.

Ascent's Managing Director Jeremy Eng said, "This is a positive step in the development the Petişovci-Lovaszi Project. Pg-11 is an important well and whilst the main effort is in the evaluation of the Miocene gas reservoirs and the application of new technology to most efficiently developed the gas reserves, we expect that after the evaluation phase the well will be completed as a producing well and will then contribute to cashflow in the medium term."

Ascent, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Ascent Slovenia Limited will have a 75% interest in the Petişovci Project and Slovenian partner, Geoenergo d.o.o. holds 25%.

WELL!! WELL!!! Off we go, soon be February..2 days of RNS's and i'm overdosing!!!!!!

finncap update.

Analyst: Will Arnstein ( warnstein@finncap.com )
0207 220 0543
Morning Note
22 December 2010


Ascent has agreed a 12.8m deal with EnQuest that will see it increase its stake in the Petisovci gas field, in Slovenia, to 75%. With drilling on the field set to commence imminently, Ascent has secured a greater economic interest in what could be a very significant resource and the technical backing of one of the largest independent E&Ps in the UK. We believe these are positive developments that will aid the appraisal programme and lower the risk of commercial failure.

The deal. Ascent has acquired an additional 48.75% stake in the highly prospective deep reservoirs of the Petisovci Concession from EnQuest taking its interest in these zones to 75%. In exchange, EnQuest will receive 150.9m shares in Ascent (equivalent to a 22.5% equity stake), a seat on Ascents Board and nil cost options on a further 29.7m shares subject to the successful development of the Petisovci gas field.

Material secondary benefits. As well as significantly increasing its exposure to the Petisovci project, the acquisition provides several other benefits to Ascent. The most important of these will see EnQuest provide technical support for Ascent in its evaluation of results from the Petisovci appraisal programme and its assessment of the commercial potential of the field. Beyond this, it will assist Ascent in its evaluation of future business development opportunities in Europe and we believe it may act as a corner-stone investor in any near-term fundraising, thereby lowering Ascents financing risk, although there is no formal commitment to this. Finally, the deal removes uncertainty surrounding the stake as Ascent had previously been sole risking EnQuests share of the capex.

Valuation implications. We upgrade our total NAV by 12% to 17.4p/sh to account for the larger working interest in the Petisovci field, the equity dilution and a modest reduction in risk associated with the project. Unrisked, our total NAV increases by 11% to 62.3p/sh providing 6x upside potential

L2 hotting up now.

2 v 1 @ 8.75/9.0


Just HOOD offering at 9p

And the writer of the broker note on AST (Will Arnstein) is currently ranked No 1 Starmine stock picker according to the finncap half year update.

So you have a top man writing how good AST is :)


http://fool.uk-wire.com/Article.aspx?id=201011240843047169W



......... Will Arnstein - oil & gas analyst, previously at Jefferies and currently ranked No 1 Starmine stock picker........

Personally I think one of the major potential upsides of the recent deal is the upside to the GIP figure and ultimately the recoverable amounts of gas.

The CPR by RPS was done based on available information and its very likely to be conservative.

Now, as AST now have 75%, any upside is very very valuable to AST with the three quarters ownership of the potential prize.

I would not be surprised at all if after PG-11 is drilled and extensively tested that we see the CPR updated with much higher volumes of gas in place and recoverable resources estimates.

At which point AST will farm out and likely use debt to fund their share of development costs.

Rose tinted specs I have, but I think the AST team are confident that Slovenia is going to be much larger than what is talked about at present.

Another good day nice rise.. So top man doing the research sounds ok to me!!.. Yes Just got Prose but its a nice shade of rose''e''!!!.. Just got home been out all afternoon...

Yes, another strong day, its building well and AST could go on a very strong run in Jan/Feb/Mar with Slovenia and Switzerland both going (if we get the Swiss spud as planned).

When the city is back from its holiday 1st week of Jan there should be lots more buying.....

An extract of Tipping Tom's recent OB presentation.

The outlook for oil, as said by Goldman Sachs and others, well TT is in agreement too. Mid-East problems ? Interesting, certainly I have no exposure to anything in the Middle East, but anyone who has could suffer big time if things heat up, while oilers focussed on other area's might surge, those with their hand in the ME might be going down fast.

As the Chinese say, "May you live in interesting times" - and anyone with lots of exposure to black gold has been and still is having very interesting times !! :)

http://www.mediafire.com/?r6bu3l17crtndul

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http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/24249/ascent-resources-fox-davies-says-petiovci-deal-with-enquest-adds-value-24249.html


Ascent Resources: Fox-Davies says Petişovci deal with EnQuest adds value

Thursday, December 23, 2010 by Jamie Ashcroft

Lionel Therond, oil and gas analyst at Fox-Davies, looked at Ascent Resources (LON:AST) in light of its recent deal with EnQuest to acquire its 48.75 percent stake in the Petişovci project in Slovenia.

The share based deal sees EnQuest take a 22.5 percent stake in Ascent.
The Petişovci-Lovaszi assets are the main focus for the company and the priority as the near-term value driver, Therond said.

Therefore, Ascents increased interest in the Petişovci Project is good news, but is it worth the dilution?

He adds: we believe that the transaction is value accretive to the existing shareholders.

Furthermore, it is important to consider the intangible elements of the deal.
EnQuest purchased Stratic Energy (the joint venture partner) for its interests in the North Sea oil fields of West Don and Crawford.

It is fair to say that the Petişovci asset is non-core to EnQuest and had the deal not been agreed, the on-going joint venture arrangement could have been a drag on the development of the Petişovci-Lovaszi assets.

However, Ascent now has a greater shareholding with the option of trying to attract companies with an interest in the Petişovci-Lovaszi assets.

Therond rates Ascent as a buy with a 20 pence per share target.

Fox-Davis had a 20p t.p on ast before this deal yet he says it adds value, then you have Finn-cap giving a t.p of 61p, well i may as well add my pennys worth for what its worth.. on a conservative view 45p by March.... IMHO..of course.. GLA Happy xmas..

L2 now 5 v 1 @ 8.75/9.0

Just CANA on 9p, should be moving up again soon.

No doubt granny boy will appear soon having been out all morning lol

There she pops.

No PTholden just about to go out, on a high of course!!!!!!

Worth a read :

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/96738/20110102/oil-natural-gas-crude-futures-2011-outlook.htm

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http://www.oilandgasinsight.com/file/94919/ascent-sees-significant-gas-potential-as-it-focuses-on-peti351ovci-lovaszi.html


Ascent Sees Significant Gas Potential As It Focuses On Petişovci-Lovaszi

December 2010 | Project News

Ascent is betting all its chips on the Petişovci-Lovaszi unconventional gas deposit, the successful realisation of which could reduce Slovenian and Hungarian dependence on Russian gas.
UK-listed Ascent Resources has spudded an evaluation well in a Slovenian prospect after having substantially boosted its stake in the project to 75%. The successful development of the project could change Hungary and Slovenia's energy outlook.

Ascent reported on December 22 2010 that it had spudded the Pg-11 tight gas evaluation well at the Petişovci-Lovaszi project area, targeting Miocene-era gas reservoirs. The evaluation programme includes core sampling, wireline logging and testing. Ascent expects the well to be completed as a producer and to become cash flow-contributive in the 'medium term.' Preliminary results are expected in February 2011.

The Petişovci-Lovaszi area straddles the Hungarian-Slovenian border. In October 2010, Ascent stated that a report by RPS Energy put the Petişovci-Lovaszi P90 estimate at 5.7bn cubic metres (bcm) and the P10 estimate at 23.6bcm. Ascent has estimated that around 50% of the tight gas in the Petişovci-Lovaszi area can be recovered and believes existing infrastructure links in the region, coupled with good gas prices, make it an attractive development candidate.

Given the importance of this asset to Ascent, the independent has spent much of 2010 disposing assets and raising cash towards its development. Most recently, on December 21, UK-listed independent EnQuest agreed to sell its 48.75% stake in the project to Ascent, in exchange for a 22.5% equity stake in the latter. EnQuest has agreed to provide technical support to Ascent for the project's execution, and will benefit should commercial quantities of gas be successfully produced.

The latter scenario would be a positive boost to both Slovenia (whose own gas needs are modest) and Hungary. Budapest is heavily dependent on Russian gas imports and, like most of its fellow eastern European neighbours, is keen to reduce its dependence and boost 'energy security'. While there has been rising investor interest in shale gas in Poland, Petişovci-Lovaszi is one of the few other exciting prospects for CEE unconventional gas.

Strong start.

L2 presently 2 v 1 @ 9.25/9.75

Just SING on the offer at 9.75p

Have a listen to Jeremy Eng talk about AST :

http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/ceo_focus/630/jeremy-eng-md-of-ascent-resources-talks-about-shallow-oil-reserves-in-italy-630.html


Jeremy Eng MD of Ascent Resources, talks about shallow oil reserves in Italy

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Jeremy Eng, MD of Ascent Resources, talks about shallow oil reserves in Italy, three discoveries in Switzerland, FTSE 250 EnQuest PLC disposing of its 48.75% stake in the Petişovci Project in Slovenia - for an initial 22.5% equity stake in Ascent, and Hungarian assets generating 600,000 gross a month.


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Bought into AST today... looks a good bet. entirely agree with you, pros.