June 2008 Presentation : Link here

March 2008 AST Write Up : Link TMF Post Ascent Article Archive Folder : Link to AST archive folder

Detailed Info on Italian Prospects : Link to post 2 (Explo.)

Detailed Info on Swiss Prospects : Link to post 3 (Explo.)

Detailed Info on Spanish Prospects : Link to post 4 (Prod. + Explo.)

Detailed Info on Dutch Prospects : Link to post 5 (Explo.)

Detailed Info on Hungarian Prospects : Link to post 6 (Prod + Explo.)

Detailed Info on Slovenia & Gabon Prospects : Link to post 7 (Explo.)



Web Site : http://www.ascentresources.co.uk

Email : info@ascentresources.co.uk

Sign up for email news alerts here : Click Here


Oil and Gas Guide for those who want to know more : Link to PDF file

Nice move JE.

Adds to the realisation that Italy is going to be, potentially, very big for Ascent.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=200709050701393078D

Ascent Resources PLC
05 September 2007

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

To purchase 22.5% of Italian Drilling Contractor

Ascent Resources plc, the AIM traded oil and gas exploration and production company, is to acquire a 22.5% interest in Italian drilling contractor Perazzoli Drilling srl ('Perazzoli'). The acquisition will provide Ascent, through its subsidiary Ascent Drilling Limited ('Ascent Drilling'), with priority access to Perazzoli's rigs, enabling it to more efficiently schedule the Company's exploration and appraisal drilling programmes on its European gas and oil portfolio, as well as additional revenue.

Ascent Drilling is to be owned 50% by Ascent Resources plc and 50% by Midnight Energy Limited, a company controlled by Malcolm Groom, also a director of Ascent Resources plc. Ascent Drilling will be acquiring 45% of the shares of Perazzoli and Ascent's interest will be in 22.5% of those shares.

Under the terms of the letter of intent signed between Perazzoli and Ascent Drilling, Perazzoli will acquire the 100 tonne Corsair 300 drilling rig from its parent company and is to order a WEI DS-205 200 tonne drilling rig for delivery in mid 2008. The Italian manufactured new build WEI rig is one of the latest generation of hydraulic rigs, which are low profile, designed for minimum environmental impact, and capable of drilling to over 3,600m. The Corsair rig,which has a drilling capability of over 2,000m, has been used continuously by Ascent in Spain and Italy over the past 8 months to drill 3 wells and for the deepening of the Anagni-1 oil discovery well.

Across Europe there is currently a shortage of drilling contractors. This is due to an increase in exploration activity over the past two years, including the German geothermal initiative, which has adsorbed drilling capacity. In Italy, the shortage of properly certified drilling rigs is particularly severe. With a 22.5% share in Perazzoli, Ascent will be able to prioritise its drilling slots as well as gain financially from the rental of the two rigs to third parties. Perazzoli has a strong order book and contracts with other operators in Italy will see both rigs fully engaged for the foreseeable future. Ascent will initially use the rigs to drill on its Italian and Swiss projects and expects to use them for circa 20% of their operational time.

Ascent's drilling plans with Perazzoli includes the Gazzata exploration well on the Bastiglia exploration permit in the Po Valley, which is being fully funded by its 50% farm-in partner Deltana Energy Limited, the first of the Swiss
appraisal wells, where a farm-out is under discussion, as well as two appraisal wells at Anagni and a further exploration well on the Frosinone permit.
Drilling on projects in Hungary, Slovenia and the Netherlands will be with other contractors.

Ascent's Managing Director Jeremy Eng said, 'We have over 20 projects in our portfolio and the seven wells drilled to date have been on only four of these projects. These first wells were the easier shallow wells all less than 2,000m.
The next wells are generally deeper and target more prospective and substantially larger targets. Market conditions, particularly in Italy at the present time, make taking a strategic interest in an Italian drilling company
very advantageous to Ascent. Not only does it allow us to drill at a time convenient to us but it will also contribute to revenues.'

EVO presently on their own on the offer.

For reference.

Its said that EVO (Evolution) are going to stop being MM's across a few smaller oil stocks, and so its no surprise they are on their own on the offer.

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


10th September 2007

Ascent Resources plc ('Ascent' or the 'Company') Finalises Hungarian Joint Venture with MOL RT

Ascent Resources plc, the AIM traded oil and gas exploration and production company, through its 90% owned Hungarian company PetroHungaria kft, has signed a Joint Development and Joint Operating Agreement with Hungarian company MOL, for the redevelopment of the Bajcsa Gasfield in south western Hungary. The redevelopment project is designed to recover additional gas reserves through the horizontal recompletion of existing wells.

The Bajcsa field is 6 kilometres south of Nagykanizsa near the Hungarian Croatian border. It was originally brought on stream in 1961 and has produced from over 20 wells. The field has seven stacked reservoirs with the majority of production coming from two, VII/b and III. Total production to date is circa 470 million cu. m (16.6 Bcf). The horizontal recompletions, to be drilled from the existing vertical wells, are designed to significantly increase production rates and recover gas from un-depleted parts of the reservoirs. It is planned to drill the first two horizontal recompletions towards the end of 2007. Importantly, because the field is already on production, gas from these wells can immediately be delivered to market.

The Joint Venture has already completed extensive reservoir and horizontal well studies and will jointly plan and implement the drilling of the new wells, which will use Rotary rigs already under contract to MOL. Incremental production will be shared between MOL and PetroHungaria.

Ascent's Managing Director Jeremy Eng said, "This project has many important elements; By working in an existing producing field it will provide additional proven reserves to the Group; it has the ability to immediately sell produced gas without having to wait on new development approval and there are other similar opportunities in the surrounding area, not least of which is one of the Ascent operated Slovenian gas project at Petisovci Globocki."

* * ENDS * *

Well, we should be expecting interims around the 18th Sept (as they are due prior 30th and Ascent are doing Oil Barrel on the 20th so you'd expect them out prior to Oil Barrel).

So not long to wait for an Anagni update, we might even get one in isolation ahead of the interims, to focus on the progress there.

Exciting times ahead.

Up trend continuing today.

PP, on a seperate off topic note, have you researched HAWK. I think there is lot's of mileage to be had there.

I have updated the Bajsca info in the header posts following the comments by Mark Slater (webcast on www.t1ps.com)

Bajsca is said to be potentially hold around 1 TCF of recoverable gas (worth potentially 2 billion euro) of which AST has 45%.

The hope for Anagni is its a 100m+ barrel find, and it could be worth 5,6 or 7 times the current price. Apparently the big Tempa Rossa find in Italy was the same, and it took quite some time to get the oil flowing out. The last update was at 20 days (24th August) (and extraction of drilling mud was 20%) so therefore as we stand now they should have extracted around 40% now, with around another 60+ days of mud extraction to go.

Total drilling mud loss in the well was around 20,000 barrels.


sivermede - have looked but all my oily money is in AST and IPL presently :)

http://www.oilbarrel.com/email_index.html?page=/news/article.html?body=1&key=oilbarrel_en:1189648917&feed=oilbarrel_en


13.09.2007

Ascent Resources Set To Drill Tight Gas Reservoirs In Hungary This Year

Two years ago AIM-listed Ascent Resources signed an MoU with Hungarian firm MOL to work together on the redevelopment of tight gas reservoirs in the southwest of the country. Now that MoU has been cemented with the signing of a Joint Development and Joint Operating Agreement for the redevelopment of the producing Bajcsa gas field, a project that promises a near-term uplift in reserves and production.

The plan is to use state-of-the-art recompletion techniques to unlock difficult-to-access reserves and improve flowrates from low permeability reservoirs. The gas would then be processed and transported using the existing production infrastructure, keeping development costs low and timelines short.

Despite these attractions, the project would have struggled to move off the drawing board without fiscal incentives. Earlier this year Hungarys Ministry of Economy and Transport granted the enhanced gas recovery project a reduced royalty rate of 12.46 per cent, down from 70 per cent. This improvement is in line with the hydrocarbon law for new investment in oil fields and comes as a result of a lobbying campaign by MOL and Ascent. This royalty reduction makes a significant difference to the project, managing director Jeremy Eng told oilbarrel.com in April 2007. Without this, the project would be marginal.

The Bajcsa field lies 6 km south of Nagykanizsa near the Hungarian-Croatian border. It was originally brought on stream in 1961 and, to date, has produced some 16.6 billion cubic feet of gas from over 20 wells. The majority of the gas has come from the VII/b and III reservoirs, just two of the seven stacked reservoirs that make up the field. Current production levels are fairly minor.

MOL and Ascent plan to drill horizontal recompletions from the existing vertical wellbores. This should boost flowrates and drain gas from undepleted reservoirs. The exact increase in production wont be known until the partners get to work. Shareholders wont have long to wait for the results: the first two horizontal recompletions will go down towards the end of this year and the gas can be immediately sold to market.

Interestingly these reservoirs extend across the border into eastern Slovenia, where earlier this year Ascent bagged interests in two fields through its acquisition of Nemmoco Slovenia Corp. Ascent bought Nemmoco in February, thereby securing a 45 per cent interest in the Petisovci Dolina (P-D) oil and gas fields and a 15.75 per cent interest in the underlying Petisovci Globoki gasfield (P-G).

These fields, discovered back in 1942, currently produce minor amounts of oil and gas but are thought to hold substantial additional reserves. The remaining proven plus probable oil reserves in the P-D reservoirs are estimated to be 10.7 million barrels with the P50 gas-in-place estimate on the deeper P-G reservoirs put at a rather meaty 579 bcf. Again, modern completion and production technologies will be key to unlocking this potential.

The deeper P-G gas accumulation has been tested by the drillbit in recent years, with Grove Energy, now part of Canadas Stratic Energy, drilling and then deepening the D-14 well. The results were disappointing but not a disaster: despite strong gas shows while drilling, the deeper E-1 reservoir did not produce from an open-hole test and the well was suspended without a fracture stimulation. Fraccing could well be the key to producing from these tight gas reservoirs. If MOL and Ascent have success over the border in Hungary, it will encourage investors that the P-G reservoir can also be made to work, unlocking a substantial gas resource that, given the existing production infrastructure, could prove a nice addition to the bottomline.

PapalPower: Many thanks for the link to Oilbarrel.com - what a mine of information; had not known about it.

I hold shares in AST - price is down this morning but I'm sure they'll come through in time.

Toya, the shorter term movement will be controlled by the shorter term traders jumping on and then jumping off to take a quick profit. We have moved up from 18p to 24p in a short period of time, so bound to get some who will sell out.

However, the fundamentals of the company are stronger than ever now, with the news on Bajsca going ahead.

From a post on AFN, here is a transcript of the Tom Winnifrith/Mark Slater interview last week from the www.t1ps.com site, the part reference to AST :


TURKEY3 - 17 Sep'07 - 08:41 - 15342 of 15342

Transcript from tw & ms from last week.

Tom: Moving to stock specific, at Master Investor you highlighted very few stocks. Let's go with the most interesting: Ascent Resources (AST). t1ps readers are fully aware of my views on that. How has Ascent gone for you?

Mark: Very well. I came in at 8p, my average price was (before I sold any) must have been about 10p, 9p, that kind of thing and I think at Master Investor it was about 14p and it had a huge run up to 32p. I sold about a sixth of my holding between 29p and 32p. I was looking to sell about a third because that would have got me in for nothing but the shares fell back.

They've been quite strong lately. They've been all over the place but they're up this morning 3.5p, they're up to 23-24p today. The bet hasn't really changed for me. The price has moved but I think the actual bet is pretty similar, which is that: here's a company, 23p or 24p it's capitalised at about 70-odd million.

It's got cash, it's got a little bit of production and it's got several big bets all of which look quite likely, so the one that's driven the price in the last 2 days is the announcement of a joint venture with a big Hungarian company looking for tight gas in Hungary and this is actually the deal that originally attracted investors when Ascent floated some years ago. This was then the great hope. It took a long time to sign up - it took a year or more to sign the deal - but they think they've got something like 1 trillion cubic feet of gas and I think you'd normally value that at about 2 billion. They've got 45%. Now, there's a bit of work to do before they get there, obviously, but there has been production there, it's near infrastructure, they'll get project finance quite easily (in my view) and that's a very, very big play, very little risk, I think.

There's Italy. There are 2 key areas in Italy. There's the Po Valley which I think is quite interesting but the key short term is the Latina Valley where they've got a project. They've got an oil discovery and they're now assessing it or appraising it and unfortunately they put in a huge amount of mud when they drilled - they put in something like 20,000 barrels of mud -

Tom: This is Agnagni.

Mark: Yes. And they put in 20,000 barrels of much, which was too much, and they're now pumping it out. Well, of course to get to the oil you've got to get the mud out first so they're pumping at about 200 barrels, maybe 240 a day, so roughly 1% of what they put in they're getting out per day. They've been pumping for about 30-35 days. The last statement was probably when they were 20 days in, so they'd taken out 20% of what they'd put in, and they were about about 0.5% oil, so roughly 0.5% of what was coming up was oil and I think their hope will be that that percentage rises as they get more out but it's taking time. Tempo Rosso, which was another big find in Italy, was very similar. It took a long time before the oil came out. It's a geology where that's to be expected. They're confident and we'll see.

Again, the risk/reward is what I like. If it's worth nothing ... I think the odds of Agnagni being worth nothing are very, very low. I think there's a reasonable chance they'll have to find another way in. There's a reasonable chance of that. They might have to drill it from a different angle or something like that. But it's a very good bet. If it's right, you're talking about a huge asset. You're talking about 100 million barrels plus. That's huge. On-shore Italy, that is huge and would be worth, I would say, 5-6-7 times the current share price. Maybe more. A dramatic multiple to share price. If it's wrong, I think the shares go back to maybe 14p on sentiment but my view is they'll be back to 23-24p anyway at some point because they've got a lot of other good things in there.

They've got Hungarian projects, they've got a very big project in Switzerland and lots of other little things as well, so my view is the risk/reward is excellent and that's why I wouldn't sell out. I think it's quite sensible to take a bit of money out as you go along but I wouldn't sell out.

PapalPower: thanks for the info - again. What attracts me to this share is that there are several projects going on at once, at various stages and in different geographical areas - some with huge potential if all goes well. So: one to hold on to.

PapalPower: will you be attending the Presentation in London tomorrow? I can't get there alas but, if anyone does go, it would be great to have a brief summary here!

Not me, but I will keep an eye out for any reports, and post them here if we get some.

Thanks

Post from AFN :

bobobob5 - 20 Sep'07 - 16:29 - 15559 of 15588

Just got back from Oilbarrel. I thought Jeremy Eng's presentation was pitched just about right: it didn't focus too much on Anagni, but instead covered the breadth of what is a pretty broad exploration portfolio. A few key points I took in notes:

* the primary funding strategy is farmouts
* AST like the stability of gas prices (compared to oil)
* small European discoveries can prove economic
* the portfolio is "evenly spread"
* by the end of 2009, half the portfolio will still be left to explore
* Nyirseg: the field had produced in the past, doing seismic over 100 sq.km.
* Switzerland held up by rig shortages, plan to get a rig on it by end 2008
* Slovenia: talked about big potential, but reservoirs can be difficult
* Anagni: the 50 metre interval leaked mud into the fractures, 3000 tons (20,000 barrels) initially lost, remedial work cut the further loss to 500 tons in the subsequent drilling, the original estimate was 5% dolomite porosity but this was found to be 15%, the % of dolomite was high, 40% of fluid recovered so far, expect most of the fluid (i.e. another decent slice of the remaining 60%) needs to be recovered before knowing the facts about the oil (or whatever), oil staining in fractures in the recovered samples despite being 'washed' for 3 days by the drilling fluid, no gas seen, indications of live oil.

My impression was of a competent outfit, getting on with the job.

but imho DYOR etc as always

The Oil Barrel Presentation Slides are now available to view, link below :

http://www.ascentresources.co.uk/investor_information/Ascent_Oil_Barrel_2007.pdf


.

Summary in the yellow box updated :

Summary:

Producing 100-120bpd with reserves of 0.5MMbbl in Spain, and planning the development of a 3-well field in Hungary. Two wells currently producing minor amounts of oil and gas in the Bascja field are expected to be recompleted, using horizontal drilling, by the end of the year, and immediately put on production.

Drilling fluid recovery is ongoing at anagni (at 200bpd)- once this is complete testing will begin on the prospect. A break (est 3 weeks) in drilling fluid recovery is expected end of October whilst a new testing permit is acquired. Estimate for drilling fluid recovery to end approx mid-December.

Producing:

Spain, Ayoluengo (88.75%). The field is currently producing at around 110bpd from reserves which were acquired at $6/bbl (with estimated reserves of 0.5MMbbl). Profits are sufficient to cover administrative overheads. Production from current wells is in decline but bringing new wells on-stream has maintained production, which may improve through the year with the introduction of new production technology and enzyme treatments.

Testing:

Italy, Anagni (80%). Drilling at anagni confirmed the presence of a carbonate platform from 865m to total depth (1355m), with oil shows from 905m down. Of the 450m intercept dolomitised zones with over 10% porosity totalled over 140m. Total loss of circulation was experienced throughout the drilling and due to its fractured nature core recovery was poor, although all cores recovered had traces of oil. The fluid lost is currently being recovered (along with small traces of oil) at 200bpd using a 'nodding donkey' pump.


Development plans:

Hungary- Nyirseg (54.45%)- This field has three commercial wells which are being included in the current development study, with the aim of initial production in H1 08. Pen-104 (which flowed at a restricted 3.4MMscfd) was discovered by AST, and its success has opened up the possibility of developing two former discoveries, Pen-12 (which has an estimated 2bcf recoverable), and Pen-9 (which has an estimated 26bcf recoverable).

Hungary- Bajsca (45%)- Tight gas redevelopment project in partnership with MOL; technical studies have confirmed the economic viability of the project using horizontal recompletion techniques. The first two of these recompletions will be commenced in December 07 (PetroHungaria (90% owned by AST) to drill the wells with MOL providing the infrastructure).

Exploration to date:

In the Nyirseg permit (Hungary, 54.45%) we have had one commercial discovery from a four well drilling program. This was Pen-104: the target which flowed had a Most Likely size of 2.3bcf, but given the high flow rate this is likely to be revised upwards. The other three wells had varying results. Vam-1 hit good quality gas but not enough to suggest a commercial reservoir, so was P&A. FGY-2 hit water in a reservoir quality interval; this was encouraging enough to have the company plan to drill nearby at FGY-1 in the next round of drilling. Pen-102 intercepted a fault system en-route to the target Miocene tuffs (which contained only residual gas). The fault system was subjected to a well seismic survey with the intention of planning a sidetrack with the objective of entering the Miocene gas reservoir in a more favourable location at a later date.
3-D seismic acquisition planned over field area

In the Sedano Basin permit (Spain, 50%) we drilled a single well, Hontomin-4, which did not find oil, suggesting a lack of a successful seal in the area.

In Italy we have had a non-commercial gas well at Fiume Arroe and testing is ongoing at the "encouraging" Anagni well.

Other plans:

Quick Summary of present pending drills to 2009 (schedule will be added to and ammended as time goes by) :

Hungary - Bajsca - 2 Horizontal recompletions to start in Dec 2007
Italy Frosinone - Anagni - 2 drills to be done for oil
Italy Frosinone - Veroli - 1 well to be drilled for oil.
Italy - Bastiglia - 2 wells to be drilled for gas in H2 2008.
Swiss - Bern 2 - 1 well to be drilled in Q4 2008 for gas.
Holland - M11 - 1 well to be drilled in 2009 for gas
Holland - M8 - 1 well to be drilled in 2009 for gas.

Spain- Rocamundo- an application has been made for this exploration license (to the north west of ayoluengo) with Tethys and Shesa.

Spain, Sedano Basin, Basconcillos H, Tozo-1 well (50%), oil target drilled by Chevron in 1965, which flowed several hundred barrels over a five-month period and also contains an un-tested gas find.

Italy- Po Valley (49%)- Deltana will pay the cost of the first exploration well (and if successful the second) on the 130bcf Gazatta-1 prospect. Second prospect would be Palazzo-1, target 116 Bcf. Well location permitting is currently underway. Deltana have also contributed to historical costs and will pay the first 1.5 million euro's of seismic expenditure on the permits. First two prospects to be drilled in H2 2008.

Switzerland (90%)- (in Vaud) an oil exploration permit containing a 1962 oil discovery at Essertines and (in Bern) two gas exploration permits containing a gas discovery each (Linden, 1972; Hermrigen, 1982); all three also contain unexplored Triassic potential. The results of the prospectivity report, created by reprocessing seismic data, acquiring new seismic surveys and geochemical analysis, were integrated into a new geological model. The next stage of finding suitable drilling locations has commenced and wells will be drilled in Q4 2008.

Holland (45.75%)- Four offshore licences covering a total of 795 square kilometres. One of these (M11) contains a discovery from 1982 which flowed at 2MMscfd; with technological improvements this may be increased towards commerciality. A 3D seismic survey requires reinterpreting, and geological and geophysical work is underway. Drilling is planned for 2009/2010 depending on rig availability.

Slovenia, Petisovci Globoki (15.75% and operator)- This field is considered as an extension of the Bajsca tight gas field in Hungary. One well previously drilled, D-14, intersected minor gas and water (only produced after three fracture stimulation attempts), but when deepened deeper reservoirs with estimated P50 gas in place of 579Bcf had strong gas shows which did not produce from an open-hole test (fracture stimulation was not attempted). Preliminary engineering studies are ongoing.

Slovenia, Petisovci Dolina (45% and operator)- total 2P reserves of 10.7mmbl.

Other interests:

In Gabon, after some shrewd investment (receiving back costs and 404,350 Afren shares), we have a 1.75% net profits royalty in two Production Sharing Contracts (the Iris Marin and Themis Marin, both operated by Sterling Energy). Both have extensive 2D and 3D seismic. Themis Marin is the more advanced licence which is scheduled to be drilled in Q3, while the seismic for Iris Marin is being processed with results due later this year.

AST have purchased 22.5% of an Italian drilling contractor. The company currently has one 2000m+ rig, and will acquire a 3,600m-capable rig by mid-2008. AST expect to utilise these rigs for around 20% of their operational time.

Total shares in issue 301,167,591

Large Shareholdings (total 52.8%):Company/Individual Holding %age
Credit Suisse Nominees (RAB) 62,622,619 20.79%
R B Rowan 25,000,000 8.30%
Tiger Resource Finance 24,093,406 8.00%
Slater Investments 22,914,679 7.61%
HSBC Global Custody Nominee (AXA Throgmorton Trust) 14,000,000 4.65%
FMR Corp 10,763,100 3.57%
HSBC Global Custody Nominee (AXA UK Smaller Companies) 10,000,000 3.32%
Roy Nominees ltd (Majedie Investments) 9,565,789 3.18%
Mellon Nominees (UK) ltd 6,315,789 2.10%
HSBC Global Custody Nominee (AXA SEI UK Equity) 4,180,000 1.39%


Director Shareholdings (total 1.51% of shares in issue and 23m options at an average price of 8.45p):

J P Kenny 100,000 500,000 options at 10.5p by 28-12-10

J V L Legg 533,526 500,000 options at 5p by 28-06-10; 1,000,000 options at 15p by 23-09-10; 1,000,000 options at 40p by 23-09-10; 500,000 options at 10.5p by 28-12-10

P R S Earl 50,000 500,000 options at 11.5p by 15-05-11

N S J Moore 119,500 500,000 options at 9.5p by 28-06-11

M D J Groom 1,597,750 1,000,000 options at 5p by 28-06-10; 1,000,000 options at 15p by 23-09-10; 1,000,000 options at 40p by 23-09-10

J Eng 2,000,000 10,000,000 options at 5p by 1-03-10

P A F Heren 500,000 options at 11.5p by 10-11-10

Answers to some questions that were raised prior to the OB and Proactive conferences and presented to Jeremy Eng at the Proactive conference to be answered.

Thanks to the Proactive Team ( http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk ) for asking them on our behalf.



"Hi PP,

Answers here:

1/ The earlier Swiss drills (not by Ascent) were to depths exceeding 2km, do we take it therefore that the first drill by Ascent will be shallower than 2km based on the rig available ? or ref Q2.

= The first well will, most likely be an appraisal of one of the gas discoveries and therefore greater than 2km



2/ Will the first Swiss drill be in Q4 07 ? or will it likely slip into Q1 08 ? or will it have to wait until the new deeper drilling rig is obtained by Ascent Drilling ?

= It will have to wait for the new rig



3/ The first Swiss drill, will it be for gas or for oil ? Which prospect is likely to be first up, Bern-1, Bern-2 or Vaud ?

= Gas in Bern



4/ Page 27, annual report, Director's report.
" At end of the first drilling programme, due for completion in Q2 2007, the Company plans an independent reserves valuation of the portfolio to record proved (P1), probable (P2) and possible (P3) reserves

What is the progress towards this?

= It is planned for release with 2007 Final results



5/ Whats happening in Spain, everything seems to have ground to a halt in terms of further exploration or flow enhancements, will you look at selling off the Spanish assets now that Italy is becoming of more importance to Ascent ?

= N/A


6/ Hungary, Bajsca....based on your projections for the feasibility study...what is the expected average cost per well ? based on a well being commercial and having whatever mean expectation flow rate you expect, what will be an estimated time period for ROI, and also expected mean well life time ?

= MOL have stated that Phase 1 could produce 80k cu.m per day from two wells



7/ It has been said the oil produced at Ripi (by your partner in the Anagni well) is of the type associated with deeper reservoirs, is the oil type at Anagni the same type as at Ripi ?

= Similar


8/ Assuming Anagni is commercial.....is there a high chance of further commercial structures in the Anagni to Ripi area ? and also on the Fosinone license area ?

= Very good potential


9/ You have been quoted in the past as preferring "gas over oil", is this still the stance ? and if so, why ?

= Stability of the gas markets in Europe (excluding UK)



10/Quote*****"July 2005 saw the purchase of Vintage Petroleum Italiana, now renamed Ascent Resources Italia, which has 100% of two gas exploration permits in the central part of the Po Valley. ....
Ascent paid $2.6m in cash for Vintage. This included working capital, coupled with drilling equipment and inventory sufficient for three wells. The vendor, Oklahoma based Vintage Petroleum Inc., has the right to buy back in for a 30% interest until end 2009, as well as the right to recover 75% of its past losses from any future revenues"*****Unquote


10a/ What happened to the drilling equipment and inventory - has this already been used up on other AST wells?

= Quite a lot of it has


10b/ We never saw anything about this farm-in clause in the Envoi Po Valley dataroom document, or in the annual report, or in the RNS regarding Deltana. Does this mean that AST will effectively own just 20% of the Po Valley acreage if Gazatta is successful and Vintage want to exercise their option. Or would it drop AST from 50% to 35% (i.e. 30% of AST's 50%). Or has this option already been terminated?

= N/A


11/ Financing for the Bajsca project, how are you intending to address the financing required to get this project underway in Q4 ? Do you have the required monies for the initial start up ? or will look to raise money by either debt, equity issue or asset sale ?

= N/A


12a/ Slovenia assets are frequently quoted as "producing a small amount of oil and gas". Please define "small amount" in terms of boe/day to AST

= There is currently no production attributable to the Ascent Slovenia assets


12b/ Ref to Solvenia, what is the timetable for activities in P-D - are there plans for re-development and hence increasing cash flow through existing facilities?

= Yes


13/ How is the commercial devlopment in the Nyriseg permit of the Peneszlek discovery and pre-existing appraisal re-entries progressing? Will there be first gas sales in 2007?

= There have been some delays with pipeline works and 2007 is now probably not achievable

Answers to some questions that were raised prior to the OB and Proactive conferences and presented to Jeremy Eng at the Proactive conference to be answered.Thanks to the Proactive Team ( http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk ) for asking them on our behalf.

My comments on them would be that some of the questions we knew there would be no answer too, however, the oil being "similar" to Ripi is good to hear as the potential remains that the Anagni structure is the big deep one from which some oil was pushed up and into the shallow Ripi sands - and also the reason behind the Ascent Drilling investment could well be due to the requirement to be very busy in Italy in the years to come - not developing this Anagni structure and surrounding license area, but also Po Valley.



"Hi PP,
Answers here:

1/ The earlier Swiss drills (not by Ascent) were to depths exceeding 2km, do we take it therefore that the first drill by Ascent will be shallower than 2km based on the rig available ? or ref Q2.

= The first well will, most likely be an appraisal of one of the gas discoveries and therefore greater than 2km


2/ Will the first Swiss drill be in Q4 07 ? or will it likely slip into Q1 08 ? or will it have to wait until the new deeper drilling rig is obtained by Ascent Drilling ?

= It will have to wait for the new rig


3/ The first Swiss drill, will it be for gas or for oil ? Which prospect is likely to be first up, Bern-1, Bern-2 or Vaud ?

= Gas in Bern


4/ Page 27, annual report, Director's report.
" At end of the first drilling programme, due for completion in Q2 2007, the Company plans an independent reserves valuation of the portfolio to record proved (P1), probable (P2) and possible (P3) reserves What is the progress towards this?

= It is planned for release with 2007 Final results


5/ Whats happening in Spain, everything seems to have ground to a halt in terms of further exploration or flow enhancements, will you look at selling off the Spanish assets now that Italy is becoming of more importance to Ascent ?

= N/A


6/ Hungary, Bajsca....based on your projections for the feasibility study...what is the expected average cost per well ? based on a well being commercial and having whatever mean expectation flow rate you expect, what will be an estimated time period for ROI, and also expected mean well life time ?

= MOL have stated that Phase 1 could produce 80k cu.m per day from two wells


7/ It has been said the oil produced at Ripi (by your partner in the Anagni well) is of the type associated with deeper reservoirs, is the oil type at Anagni the same type as at Ripi ?

= Similar


8/ Assuming Anagni is commercial.....is there a high chance of further commercial structures in the Anagni to Ripi area ? and also on the Fosinone license area ?

= Very good potential


9/ You have been quoted in the past as preferring "gas over oil", is this still the stance ? and if so, why ?

= Stability of the gas markets in Europe (excluding UK)


10/Quote*****"July 2005 saw the purchase of Vintage Petroleum Italiana, now renamed Ascent Resources Italia, which has 100% of two gas exploration permits in the central part of the Po Valley. ....
Ascent paid $2.6m in cash for Vintage. This included working capital, coupled with drilling equipment and inventory sufficient for three wells. The vendor, Oklahoma based Vintage Petroleum Inc., has the right to buy back in for a 30% interest until end 2009, as well as the right to recover 75% of its past losses from any future revenues"*****Unquote

10a/ What happened to the drilling equipment and inventory - has this already been used up on other AST wells?

= Quite a lot of it has


10b/ We never saw anything about this farm-in clause in the Envoi Po Valley dataroom document, or in the annual report, or in the RNS regarding Deltana. Does this mean that AST will effectively own just 20% of the Po Valley acreage if Gazatta is successful and Vintage want to exercise their option. Or would it drop AST from 50% to 35% (i.e. 30% of AST's 50%). Or has this option already been terminated?

= N/A


11/ Financing for the Bajsca project, how are you intending to address the financing required to get this project underway in Q4 ? Do you have the required monies for the initial start up ? or will look to raise money by either debt, equity issue or asset sale ?

= N/A


12a/ Slovenia assets are frequently quoted as "producing a small amount of oil and gas". Please define "small amount" in terms of boe/day to AST

= There is currently no production attributable to the Ascent Slovenia assets


12b/ Ref to Solvenia, what is the timetable for activities in P-D - are there plans for re-development and hence increasing cash flow through existing facilities?

= Yes


13/ How is the commercial devlopment in the Nyriseg permit of the Peneszlek discovery and pre-existing appraisal re-entries progressing? Will there be first gas sales in 2007?

= There have been some delays with pipeline works and 2007 is now probably not achievable

You've been busy, PP - many thanks for all this! (Do you not need to sleep??)