Acquisition

Ascent Resources PLC
05 September 2007

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

5th 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.'



                                  * * ENDS * *



For further information visit www.ascentresources.co.uk or contact:

Jeremy Eng             Ascent Resources plc                  Tel: [phone]

Hugo de Salis         St Brides Media & Finance Ltd          Tel: [phone]



Notes:

Ascent Resources has a portfolio of over 20 gas and oil projects across six
countries in Europe. The projects are onshore in Italy, Switzerland, Hungary,
Spain, Slovenia and offshore Netherlands.  The Company operates Spain's only
onshore oilfield where production currently averages over 110 barrels of oil per
day. With the stable European gas market, Ascent's portfolio favours gas over
oil. With the exception of the Netherlands, all of its projects are located
onshore where operating and development costs are substantially lower than they
are offshore.


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