Additional Listing

Petrel Resources PLC 04 November 2003 £959,500 placing by Petrel Resources PLC ('Petrel') to fund Iraqi oil activities Petrel has placed 7,380,762 shares at 13p each in a private placing with a small number of institutions. Funds raised will be used to advance our Iraqi oil interests. Petrel is negotiating with the Oil Ministry in Baghdad to explore Block 6 in the Western Desert. This block covers 10,000 sq km. Petrel and the Oil Ministry have identified large structures, which may contain hydrocarbons. As part of the reconstruction of Iraqi oil, selected companies will be invited to tender to refurbish and develop certain oil fields. Petrel staff visited these fields this week. David Horgan, Petrel Managing Director elaborated: 'Since the war I visited Iraq four times. We were warmly received. Former secrecy is gone. Technical experts help keep our staff safe and productive. They will develop their oil industry. This will not be another wasted opportunity. Life improves. Infrastructure is slowly being repaired. Money released from UN accounts is available. Congress and international donors pledged over $40 billion. Despite politically motivated incidents, reconstituted Iraqi police dramatically cut ordinary crime. Re-hiring professional soldiers will stabilise areas where Petrel works. Travel and work are now much safer. Technical experts set aside differences to rebuild the country. Oil output is now two-thirds of pre war levels. Technicians recovered about 40% of seismic and 10% of core data previously feared lost. Further progress requires international investment. Yet there remains uncertainty about future policy. This, together with security concerns, deters oil majors. Where they see difficulty, we see opportunity. Great crises make great nations. Officials are keen to explore the western desert, where Petrel has an agreement on the key Block 6. Iraqi authorities are preparing detailed maps for our team. We are interpreting satellite imagery and refining our geological model. We believe that the large identified structures are oil-prone. The urgent need is to develop existing oil discoveries. Petrel is pre-qualified and invited to tender for three fields in the north and south. Our international petroleum process engineers and geologists, complementing our Iraqi team, received enthusiastic cooperation from local officials. Iraq has too much oil and too important an address to be cast adrift. It will be fixed. Iraq will be key to the world's energy future. Petrel will play a full role in this noble development, in the interests of Iraqis, energy consumers and shareholders. The coming months will be an exciting time for Petrel.' Three of the directors of the Company have participated in the placing and their subscriptions and number of shares now held by those directors is detailed below. Number of shares Total holding in Percentage of acquired Company enlarged share capital John Teeling 115,384 3,615,384 6.2% James Finn 115,384 1,015,384 1.7% David Horgan 115,384 2,715,384 4.7% Application will be made for the new ordinary shares to be admitted to trading on AIM and it is expected that admission will take place and dealings commence on 10 November 2003. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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