Ascent Resources provides an operations update ahead of this afternoon's Extraordinary General Meeting to approve the proposed placing to raise £6 million.

Ascent has an active schedule in place for 2010, having made considerable progress in 2009, advancing its European onshore assets and completing a fundraising to focus on those projects that can produce near term cash flow. Drilling is planned in the first part of next year in Hungary and Slovenia and further 3-D seismic is to be acquired in Hungary. Currently, the Fontana-1 well is being drilled in Italy and the second 3-D seismic survey has recently completed in Slovenia. A licence extension to the end of 2010 has been granted for the M10/11 appraisal project in the Netherlands and a recently launched farm-out initiative for the Hermrigen appraisal project in Switzerland has generated early interest.

Ascent Managing Director, Jeremy Eng said, 'The Peneszlek Project in Hungary will provide cashflow from production, which is scheduled to restart early in 2010. With our successful wells at the PEN-101 and PEN-106 locations, cashflow from these is expected to increase during the year and is forecast to continue for at least two years beyond. Our projects in south eastern Slovenia and south western Hungary, where the new 3-D seismic has recently been acquired and where a third survey is planned next year, have potential to contain gas reserves of at least 300 Bcf. This is significantly greater than that at Penészlek; therefore the proving up and development of these reserves is the primary focus for 2010 and we aim to invest a significant amount as a result of the proposed placing.'

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