Acquisition of new Italian li

RNS Number : 5761O

San Leon Energy PLC

10 March 2009

 



San Leon Energy Plc 

('San Leon' or 'the Group')

Acquisition of new Italian licences

• Three successful offshore permit applications off the coast of Sicily

  • Previously discovered and produced 800, 000 barrels of oil on one licence

  • 7 million barrels of oil mean case estimated by CPR Fugro Robinson

  • Sub economic in 1980's $10 oil - potentially economic at today's prices

  • Exciting development and exploration upside

• Two successful onshore permit applications in the Po Valley 

  • Highly prospective exploration licences, adjacent to producing fields

• A total area of 1,820.2 km2 or 449,781 acres

• Work Programme commences with Environmental Reports second quarter 2009.

• Following due diligence by CIRM (Ministry & Hydrocarbons Commission) San Leon given exclusive application status

San Leon is pleased to announce that it has made five successful permit applications in Italy. The Group was the subject of CIRM due diligence of its technical and financial strength and was successful in a competitive tender process against two established US companies. 

The Permits include three opportunities offshore Sicily and two in the Po Valley. The applications are published on the Italian BUIG. 

The Sicilian opportunities are:

           1)   D352 CR-SL, an area comprising 358.5 km2, located west of Sicily in the Canal Zone C, below the Egadi Islands;

           2)   D353 CR-SL, an area comprising 226.2 km2 ,located southwest of Sicily in the Canal Zone C;

           3)   D354 CR-SL, an area comprising 482.5 km2 ,located southwest of Sicily and near the coast in the Canal Zone C;: 

Permit D352 CR-SL includes the previously discovered Narciso Field, which is the subject of Italian Ministry records 'Report to the Technical Committee for Hydrocarbons, Rome, 04/04/1986'.  Fugro Robertson recently completed an evaluation for San Leon on this field and reported a mean case of 7 MMBO.  Oil was proven on this site, by AGIP in 1986. 

The Narciso 1 & 2 discovery wells were drilled and produced oil with a Gravity 21° to 25° API from a Fossiliferous Oligocene Limestone, which was penetrated at 787.6m. The Narciso Field produced 800,000 Barrels of oil after two production tests. The Ministry approved Agip's (ENI) application to produce oil from the Narciso Field in April 1986, however at that time oil was $10 a barrel and full production was deemed uneconomic.  The site was abandoned and the permit expired.

Several exploration prospects, identified on 2D seismic, are on trend with the Norma, Naila, and Nilde Fields, southwest of the Permit, and Narciso, which also reside on the permit. Nine seismic campaigns were executed during the three exploration periods of the original ENI permit. The D353 CR-SL permit resides to the southwest of the Narciso Permit and just east of the Norma, Naila, and Nilde oil fields.

The Po Valley (Pianura Padana) is the main industrial area of Italy and renowned for its proven natural gas reserves, making Italy a major energy player and the fifth largest producer in Europe. The Po Valley Permits are the Sorbola and Sospiro:

                  1)   Sorbolo, comprising an area 302 km2, located in the Emilia Romagna Region in the Parma-Reggio Province;

                  2)   Sospiro, comprising an area 451 km2, located in the Lombardia Region in the Brescia-Cremona-Mantova Province;

The Sorbolo permit is adjacent to a number of gas discoveries and producing fields. The depleted Corregio gas field is just east of the license and the Palazetto gas discovery, drilled by Agip (ENI) in 1982, lies south of the license. San Leon believes that both permits have strong exploration potential.

Detailed work programmes submitted by CIRM, outline operations starting with the re processing of seismic intended to start Q4 2009.

Oisín Fanning, Chairman of the Group said 

'We are absolutely delighted with this result. We are particularly pleased to have been chosen by the Ministry in a competitive tender process - showing both an excellent working relationship, but also their belief that we will be the partner of choice to develop these assets. 

Italy is the Europe's fifth largest Oil & Gas producer and is a key addition to our portfolio. We look forward to starting the work programme'

Phil Thompson, CEO commented 

'The Narciso field, offshore Sicily, has tremendous development and exploration upside beyond the 7 MMBO mean based on Fugro's recent evaluation. Narciso sits on a trend that includes several fields and oil shows from every well that has penetrated the reservoir within the area.  

San Leon is very pleased to add both proven oil to our portfolio, but also lower risk exploration projects, adjacent to and on trend with producing oil and gas fields, both shallow off shore Sicily and on shore Po Valley'

10th March 2009 

For further information, please contact:

San Leon Energy Plc
Oisín Fanning, Chairman	Tel: + 353 1291 6292
Phil Thompson, Chief Executive Officer	www.sanleonenergy.com
Daniel Stewart & Co. Plc
Graham Webster/Stewart Dick	Tel: [phone]
	www.danielstewart.co.uk
College Hill Associates
Paddy Blewer/Nick Elwes	Tel: [phone]
	www.collegehill.com

Qualified person

Philip Thompson has over twenty five years experience in the oil & gas industry. He has an M.Sc. in Geophysics from Southern Methodist University and a B.Sc. in Geophysics from Texas A&M University.

Notes to Editors

San Leon Energy Plc is an international oil and gas exploration corporation, the shares of which are listed for trading on the Alternative Investment Market ('AIM') of the London Stock Exchange. The company has assets in Italy, Morocco, The Netherlands, and the USA and with its acquisition of Gold Point Energy will extend its opportunities and assets into Poland and Argentina.

 

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