Acquisition

Ascent Resources PLC
19 July 2005


      Ascent Resources Plc / Epic: AST / Index: AIM / Sector: Exploration



                Ascent Resources Plc ('Ascent' or 'the Company')
                   'Acquires further exploration concessions'



Overview:

•          Continuing strategy of building an extensive oil and gas exploration
and production portfolio primarily focussed in Europe

•          Acquired Vintage Petroleum Italiana srl, which holds two gas
exploration permits in the central part of the Po Valley in Italy

•          Secured a farm-in to an oil exploration permit and a production
concession in the Latina Valley south east of Rome held by Pentex Italia

•          Sold 12.86% interest of the Iris Marin and Themis Marin production
sharing contracts in Gabon for cash, shares and a production royalty



Ascent Resources plc, the AIM listed oil and gas exploration and production
company, has expanded its exploration portfolio through the acquisition of
282,412 acres of gas exploration concessions in the Po Valley and the signing of
a farm-in agreement with Pentex Italia in the Latina Valley.  Both projects are
in hydrocarbon producing areas of Italy.  In line with the Company's strategy of
focussing on Europe, the Board decided to realise a gain on its Gabon interest
through its sale to AIM listed Afren Plc.  Ascent retains a 1.75% production
royalty in any production going forward.



Purchase of Vintage Petroleum Italiana srl



The Company has purchased 100% of the share capital of Vintage Petroleum
Italiana srl, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Vintage Petroleum, Inc. of
Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Vintage Petroleum Italiana srl's principal assets are Cento
and Bastiglia, two gas exploration permits totalling some 282,412 acres (114,288
hectares) in the central part of Italy's Po Valley, one of the most prolific gas
producing regions of Europe with over 100 proven gasfields.



Ascent is paying US$2.6 million cash for the acquisition including drilling and
completion inventory (casing, tubing and wellheads) sufficient for three wells
and working capital.  Vintage Petroleum, Inc. has the right until the end of
2009 to re-acquire 30% of the exploration permits by paying 30% of the related
costs.  It also has the right to recover 75% of its accrued net operating losses
from future revenues, all of which will have expired by the end of 2009.



Vintage Petroleum Italiana srl is to be renamed Ascent Resources Italiana srl.



Farm-in agreement with Pentex Italia Limited ('Pentex')



Ascent has signed an agreement to farm-in to oil exploration acreage held by
Pentex in the Latina Valley nearby to Rome.  The Company will hold a 70%
interest under the farm-in agreement in the Frosinone exploration permit and a
50% interest in the Strangolagalli concession.  Although the Strangolagalli
concession contains the producing Ripi oilfield, this is excluded from the
farm-in.



Ascent will fund the exploration programme anticipated to be one well (Anagni 1
- scheduled to be drilled in October 2005), a 60km seismic programme in 2006 and
a second well to be drilled by 2007.  The Company will refund £350,000 of past
exploration costs to Pentex.  The exploration targets are the Apennine Thrust
Carbonates similar to the southern Apennine's fields of Monte Alpi, Tempa Rossa
and Cerro Falcone where some one billion barrels of recoverable oil have been
discovered in the past 17 years.



Sale of Iris Marin and Themis Marin



Ascent's strategy of being primarily focussed in Europe has led to the Company
agreeing to sell the two companies that hold 12.86% interests in the Iris Marin
and Themis Marin production sharing contracts (PSC) offshore Gabon to AIM listed
Afren Plc.  Ascent will immediately receive £684,000 for reimbursement of back
costs and 404,350 new shares in Afren, which at the current share price of 35.5p
have a market value of £143,544.  Ascent will also be granted a 1.75% net
profits interest in each of the two production sharing contracts, which will be
paid to Ascent on a quarterly basis.  The first well to be drilled in the Iris
Marin PSC is now expected to start drilling in late August 2005.  On completion
of the deal, the Company has generated a significant cash return on its
investment as well as maintaining an interest in the future success of the
project through a holding in Afren and a revenue stream from any future
production from these properties.



Current portfolio



With the completion of these of these deals, Ascent's portfolio will include the
new Italian gas and oil projects, a 90% interests in gas projects in Hungary and
Holland, a 90% interest in a Swiss oil and gas project, and the profit share
from future production from the Iris Marin and Themis Marin PSCs in Gabon.



Ascent Managing Director, Jeremy Eng, said: 'We are aiming to become a
significant oil and gas exploration company with an asset focus primarily in
Europe.  With the acquisition of Vintage Petroleum Italiana srl and the farm-in
to Latina Valley, we have already achieved two of the three objectives set
before our fund raising two months ago.  The third acquisition is expected to be
concluded shortly.  The transaction in Gabon will minimise our risk and remove
our financial exposure to the upcoming drilling campaign there.  Furthermore,
whilst funds will be returned to treasury, we have preserved a share of the
upside resulting from a successful well. Since March 2005, we have already
assembled a noteworthy portfolio of projects and a first class team of oil
industry professionals and believe that we can build shareholder value going
forward.'



                                  * * ENDS * *



Issued on behalf of Ascent Resources Plc by St Brides Media & Finance Ltd, 46
Bedford Row, London, WC1R 4LR.

Contacts:

Jeremy Eng           Ascent  Resources Plc             Tel: [phone]
Hugo de Salis        St Brides Media & Finance Ltd     Tel: [phone]



Notes:



Ascent is an AIM listed oil and gas company with a primary focus in Europe.
Founded in November 2004, Ascent considers the full spectrum of projects
covering exploration, early stage development and production. The Company has an
experienced technical team with strong industry contacts and a proven track
record. They have implemented a structured two phase development strategy: Phase
1 is to develop a core of half a dozen majority owned projects whilst Phase 2 is
to acquire a lesser number of larger scale projects across a wider geographical
range. The Company now has a 90% interests in projects in Hungary (gas),
Switzerland (gas & oil), and Holland (gas), a 100% interest in an Italian gas
exploration project and a 70% interest in Italian oil exploration as well as the
royalty interest in Gabon.  The balance of oil and gas assets and the
geographical spread of projects mainly in net energy importing countries are
designed to mitigate the risk in commodity price fluctuation and changes in
global energy politics




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