Ascent Resources has successfully completed the drilling of the Pg-10 well at the Petišovci Project in Slovenia. The results confirm the reservoir quality and potential commerciality of the Middle Miocene reservoir section, which is independently estimated to contain over 400 Bcf of gas-in-place, and delineate the substantial new deeper reservoir section discovered by the Pg-11A well.

The Pg-10 well was drilled to a total depth of 3,545m. The appraisal of the deeper Miocene or 'K' sand reservoirs showed a total of approximately 123m of new net additional reservoir with 63m of good to moderate sand quality along with another 60m of poorer quality sands in a 370m gross reservoir section. Importantly, gas is present throughout the 'K' sand in PG-10 and with the total depth of the well 45m below Pg-11A, it increases the depth of the deepest known gas. The independent audit of the gas-in-place estimate of 412 Bcf attributable to the Project by RPS Energy ('RPS') will now be updated. Given the larger than expected thicker reservoir discovered by Pg-10, Ascent remains confident that the RPS P50 gas in place estimate will increase significantly.

Both Pg-10 and Pg-11A are now being completed in preparation for fracture stimulation. Mobilisation of fracturing equipment is planned for September 2011. Following the appointment of global oil services company Halliburton as the contractor for fracturing and ancillary services, final treatment design is underway. This fracture stimulation programme is being funded from existing cash resources.

Ascent's managing director, Jeremy Eng commented: "The results from Pg-10 are highly encouraging and have defined substantial additional gas resources in the deeper Miocene 'K' sands. Our efforts are now focussed on the fracture stimulation of Pg-10 and Pg-11A, which we believe will unlock the significant intrinsic value of the project."

Ascent through its wholly owned subsidiary Ascent Slovenia Limited, has a 75% interest in the Petišovci Project. Ascent's partner is Geoenergo with a 25% interest. Geoenergo d.o.o. is the holder of the Petišovci Exploitation Concession and is a company jointly owned by Nafta Lendeva, the Slovenian State Oil Company and Petrol, the leading energy conglomerate in Slovenia.

Tags: Ascent Resources plc