Trading Statement

Independent Resources PLC
29 March 2006

29 March 2006



                           Independent Resources plc



                                 Trading Update



                 •         Significant advances since admission

•         Positive progress on environmental and technical assessment at Rivara

       •         Unsolicited third party approaches re Rivara partnership

        •         New evidence corroborating gas content at Fiume Bruna

           •         Planning progressing for re-entry of Sidi-Toui 3



Independent Resources plc ('Independent' or the 'Company'), the international
gas storage and oil and gas exploration energy company is providing a trading
update in advance of the announcement of its interim results for the period
ending 31st March 2006, scheduled for June 2006.



Since the admission of the shares of the Company to AIM in December last year,
the board of Independent (the 'Board') believes that the Independent Resources
Group (the 'Group') has made important progress in relation to its upstream oil
and gas and gas storage facility development projects.



Additional technical studies at Rivara, the proposed underground gas storage
facility in northern Italy, have provided encouraging data and the Group
continues to engage in talks with possible strategic partners for Rivara. Work
is also progressing well on the Ksar Hadada exploration permit onshore Tunisia
with a view to retesting of the Sidi-Toui 3 well later this year, and on the
Fiume Bruna coal bed methane (CBM) project in Tuscany.



An individual update in respect of each of the projects of the Group is set out
below.



Rivara gas storage project ('Rivara')



Since admission, significant advances have been made in the technical assessment
of Rivara, the progress of environmental assessment studies and regulatory
approval processes, and the negotiation of commercial partnership arrangements.



(i) Technical assessment



Additional technical assessment of Rivara performed since admission has provided
measured confirmation of the sealing efficiency of the Rivara structure.  A soil
gas study and shallow water well analysis commissioned by the Group over the
Rivara structure showed low readings of radon and helium, providing confirmation
of the seal properties of Rivara.  This study was performed by the INGV
(Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia).



An observed determination of the reservoir's fracture direction has also been
completed.  This, together with an analysis of the optimal drainage
configuration, and the measured permeability at the nearby Bignardi-1 well has
enabled the formulation of a well-development plan which the directors believe
should be extremely efficient and which is now the subject of review by a
drilling management company.



The existing San Felice sul Panaro well is now planned to become the project's
first appraisal well.  Independent's drilling manager has produced a plan to
re-enter, recondition and test this well.  This well and its results are
intended to be paired with a subsequent new well to complete the formal
technical appraisal phase which will immediately succeed the final regulatory
approvals to be granted following the project's environmental impact study.



An ideal site has been identified for the project's surface facilities.
Approximately 6.6 hectares have now been formally secured.



(ii) Environmental assessment and regulatory approvals



The environmental impact study is in its last stage and is expected to be
submitted in April.  In practice this study will form the final and formal basis
for all levels of governmental and regulatory bodies to irrevocably approve the
project's merits.



The Company has made several advance presentations to governmental and
regulatory bodies, at the national, regional, and local levels. These
presentations have been received very favourably, particularly in light of the
severe Italian gas storage crisis.



Both the gas market Regulator and the energy secretariat of the Ministry of
Productive Activities have encouraged the Company to continue progressing as
quickly as possible and for these reasons the directors believe that the
approval phase will be favourably expedited, with a conclusion before the end of
the year.



(iii) Commercial partnership arrangements



The directors believe that the commercial potential of Rivara has been
corroborated by the interest shown in this project by potential strategic
partners.  Discussions with a large integrated European gas utility continue.
The Company has also received unsolicited approaches in relation to Rivara from
other attractive potential partners.  The Board will carefully explore all its
options and seek optimal value for shareholders.  The Company will update the
market regarding material developments in this regard as appropriate.



Ksar Hadada onshore permit ('Ksar Hadada Permit')



The Tunisian government has now provided its formal written approval of
Independent's farm-in to the Ksar Hadada Permit and this has been registered as
required by Tunisian law.



On 20th March 2006, the joint operating agreement and farm-out in relation to
the Group's interest in the Ksar Hadada Permit were signed by Petroceltic Ksar
Hadada Limited (a subsidiary of Petroceltic International plc and the Operator
of the Ksar Hadada Permit) and all other parties to the permit.



The directors continue to see good progress toward the re-entry and testing of
well ST-3 on the large Sidi Toui prospect.  Tunisian exploration activity in
general remains buoyant and, as a consequence, rig demand is likely to remain at
a high level for some time.  However three rigs have now been identified as
possible candidates for use and based on discussions to date the directors
expect the date to spud to be during Q3 2006.  The Directors will seek to
accelerate the timing of this event if possible.



Collection from ETAP (the state energy company of Tunisia) and appraisal of the
new data needed for re-mapping additional prospects and leads already identified
in the permit area has begun.



Separately, Independent is in the final stages of selecting a company to provide
drilling management services to oversee the whole ST-3 drilling process.



Fiume Bruna CBM project ('Fiume Bruna')



Significant advances have been made in relation to Fiume Bruna since December.
The technical assessment of the project performed for admission has now been
augmented with observed determinations of the coal's gas content at shallow
depth.  The directors believe that this has removed much of the uncertainty
about the potential for the resource.



An ideal site has been identified to drill an exploratory stratigraphic well
that is expected to produce vital data for the project's environmental impact
study.  This exercise is expected to provide further, valuable data on the
nature of the resource, albeit at shallow depth.  The directors believe that
this data will assist the group in a more expedient completion of the
environmental impact study and should yield a more timely response from
regulatory authorities.  In addition, the directors also believe that
acquisition of this data will facilitate a more efficient appraisal and
subsequent development plan.



The Company has recently engaged Norwest Questa Engineering of Colorado as
specialist CBM consultants to the Fiume Bruna Project. Questa are one of the
leaders in this field and bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the
whole CBM exploitation process from exploration to full field development.



For further information:



Independent Resources



Ian Foster (First City PR)                    020 7436 7486
Stephen Staley                                01332 865 253
                                              07771 838 753

Grayson Nash                                  00 39 02 3655 960

Deloitte Corporate Finance
Jonathan Hinton                               020 7936 3000
Feilim McCole




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