Petrel Resources PLC
22 July 2005


The following statement was made by the Managing Director at the AGM,
Dublin, 12 Noon July 22nd 2005


Petrel is in discussions to extend its area of exploration interest in Iraq. Any
new acreage will be under the transitional Technical Cooperation Agreement
developed by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, while the new elected government
determines future energy policy.

Petrel's study of the East Safawi block in Jordan close to the Iraqi border has
been positive. We are moving to the next stage by deepening our analysis and
negotiating a Production Sharing Agreement with the Jordanian authorities. Once
a satisfactory agreement is in place a work programme will commence. This
programme is likely to include seismic and one or more wells once we are
satisfied with drilling locations.

Our partners, including many of the world's premier suppliers, continue to give
excellent support. This week Petrel engineers submitted detailed technical
clarifications on the Kormor Gas Project tender in northern Iraq to the Ministry
of Oil.

We understand that Iraqi Ministry of Oil officials are satisfied with technical
and commercial clarifications to our Subba & Luhais oil field development tender
of late 2004. Last week we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with GE on the
Subba & Luhais project. Both the Kormor and Subba & Luhais projects are in
relatively stable areas where it is still possible to work. It is not practical
to work in the central and western region presently.

Petrel has received, despite requests, no official confirmation of the awards of
Hamrin and Khurmala projects. Based on industry sources and media reports, we
assume these are gone.

Subba & Luhais remains our priority oil project, as it has been since 1999. We
continue to conduct regional work on Western Desert Block 6 and neighbouring
areas. Despite security challenges, we remain committed to expand our Iraqi
activities.

All resolutions were passed at the meeting.


Contact

David Horgan + 353 87 292 3500
John Teeling + 353 1 833 2833
Jim Finn + 353 1 833 2833


Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial

Nick Lambert + 44 (0)7811 358764


Rowan Dartington

Barrie Newton + 44 (0)117 933 0011


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

Did you sell any on the drastic fall? I remember you were the topup king at the time!! Its taken time but I can't see any downside.
This is from the charimans statement.
'We continue to be encouraged by the Oil Ministry to submit tenders for new projects. In April 2005, we submitted a multi volume tender to develop the Kormor field in Kirkuk'.
Has this tender been awarded yet?
Im sure this is the first of many awards of contracts that PET will tender for and win.

Hey Wilbs, guess it is just us on here at the moment, Kormor has not been awarded yet.

Managed to get out last year before the big fall, and then bought back in, and have been topping up all the way until last week when I got my last lot at 29pence
I haven't sold any today, as I realistically see an SP of 150-200 as soon as the Jordanian PSA is announced.

with two big deals under their belt, PET will look even more attractive as a take over bid or for a long term investment by one of the larger financial houses. either way as PI's we win!!!

Totally agree Tokyo. As its just us at the mo I think its only right to get the old thread back? There were some good discusions on there. I will now retrieve it.

Out all day at County Show - Just back.
I never offer advice but go slower on the aspirations guys
The last thing Teeling wants right now is a backlash from the locals on any suspicion of fast bucks. Keep it controlled, think what an Iraqi would see as OK
Just let it happen - time is on our side
PS A single thread would be a good idea.

Wait until Jordan news and remining bid potential - put that with oil staying in region of current prices and 10 maybe a bit high target but I don't think 5 is... certainly before end of year.

From oilbarrel.com today ....

Petrels Patience Rewarded In Iraq As It Wins Subba/Luhais Redevelopment Contract

Its been a long time coming but AIM-quoted Petrel Resources has at last been awarded the service contract for the redevelopment of the Subba and Luhais oilfields in southern Iraq. This is a real coup for the Irish oil minnow and rewards many years of patience and hard work.

Weve been working on this for six years and weve been though four different governments in that time, managing director David Horgan told oilbarrel.com. Under this new government the whole atmosphere has really changed and they are desperate to increase production and get more projects signed up.

The aim of the project, understood to be the largest brought to tender in the country, is to increase production from the fields from under 50,000 barrels per day (actually thought to be running at around 25,000 bpd at the present time) to 200,000 bpd and 100 million cubic feet of gas per day within three years.

Petrel will act as a cash contractor on the US$197 million engineering, procurement and construction project. Some of the cash will be upfront and placed in an escrow account (to be released to suppliers of bespoke equipment, for example) with the remainder paid in tranches as key milestones are reached.

The terms are not ideal: most oil companies prefer production sharing arrangements to manage their risks and ensure a bigger slice of the upside. For now, however, service contracts are all that are on offer in the volatile country, although this could change further down the line. In terms of working capital, Petrel would prefer to debt finance the project to reduce the equity dilution for shareholders, said Horgan.

The 200,000 bpd production target is reckoned to be very do-able from what is reckoned to be a billion barrel resource, a number that could be a major underestimate.

We would love to drill the deeper horizons, said Horgan. All of the reserves and production are from the shallow tertiary reservoirs but the really large fields in the region, across the border in Saudi, are from the Mesozoic, which has not been drilled at all in this area.

Theres no doubting Iraqs geological attractions to oil prospectors. Politics, sanctions, war, security and religion, however, have taken their turn in recent years to depress production and, post-war, curb new investment: Petrel, for example, appeared to lose out on the Khurmala Dome and Hamrin oilfield redevelopment tenders last year due to political expediency (although the company has yet to receive official confirmation about the status of these projects).

Yet it seems the company has now triumphed with the award of the Subba/Luhais contract, which Petrels chairman John Teeling has described as the biggest and the best of the three tenders to date. Horgan added that it was pleasing to see the ministry went for the best technical bid rather than the big name bid.

Indeed, it is a sign of its standing in the troubled country that Petrel has been asked to organised a seminar for 15 of the oil ministrys top financial experts to look at issues such as production sharing arrangements and how to deal with pre-war contracts.

This is, of course, an issue very pertinent to Petrel itself. The company holds a now suspended pre-war contract for the highly touted Block 6 in the Western Desert. It had been fearful its position there would be displaced under the new regime.

There were rumours that pre-war people would be out of favour but no-one has tried to displace us and the fact they were prepared to give us their most high profile development project shows the government has no issue with us, said Horgan. Its been a huge relief.

In fact, the company is already hoping to sign a technical operating agreement for another exploration area in Iraq. This area is hot both in terms of exploration and in terms of security at the moment, said Horgan. However the first six months would be spent reprocessing seismic and the like.

For now, the company is busy mobilizing resources to get to work on Subba and Luhais. Security issues in this area, while still requiring attention, are far more manageable. This is the place to be, said Horgan.

Is everyone still afraid of investing in Iraq or what? I can't believe the SP isn't in the 120-140p range at min with the contract news, price of oil and potential PSA - sure it hit 130+ just before xmas on pure speculation...

testing,
having a problem with this thread, when I try to read the messages all I get is a blank page ?