MOU in Hungary

Ascent Resources PLC
30 August 2005


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



30 August 2005

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

              Signs MoU with MOL to Develop Hungarian Gas Reserves


Ascent Resources plc, the AIM quoted oil and gas exploration and production
company, has signed a memorandum of understanding ('MoU') to develop gas assets
in Hungary, through its 90% owned Hungarian Joint Venture Petro Hungaria kft,
with Hungarian oil and gas company MOL.

Under the terms of the MoU, Petro Hungaria will provide funding for the
development and redevelopment of gas reserves in Hungary, primarily through the
application of state-of-the-art stimulation techniques.  The incremental
production resulting from this work will be divided equally between the two
companies.  A joint steering committee with three experts from each company will
select suitable reservoirs for joint exploitation.  This work has already
commenced.

Ascent's Managing Director Jeremy Eng commented:  'The opportunity to work with
MOL is very welcome and this project, with the objective of developing
unexploited gas reserves in Hungary, is a major step forward for Petro Hungaria.
Now, in addition to the gas exploration permits in the east of the country
where Petro Hungaria will be shooting about 270km of seismic starting next
month, the presence and activities of the Company will continue to grow and
already another initiative is under review.

'Hungary has a long history of both oil and gas production. The first
commercially exploited oilfield was discovered in 1937 and the country now
produces about a third of its oil and around a quarter of its natural gas needs.
MOL was made the national oil company in 1991 and then privatized in 1994.
Recently, the EU stepped in to prevent the sale of the gas distribution and
marketing division to E-ON of Germany over monopoly fears.  However in each of
their core activities in Hungary, MOL is the market leader, accounting for the
majority of the nation's oil and gas production, refining capacity and 
reserves.'

                                  * * 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 Resources Plc is an AIM quoted oil and gas company with a primary focus
in Europe. Since being founded in November 2004, Ascent has assembled a
portfolio of exploration assets that include majority interests in eight
exploration permits.  Applications for a further two are in progress.  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 the core of
European projects; while 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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