Appointment of Chief Executive Officer

7 July 2010

CIRCLE OIL PLC

("Circle" or the "Company")

Appointment of Chief Executive Officer

Circle, the AIM listed international oil and gas exploration, development and production Company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Chris Green as its Chief Executive Officer.

Professor Green initially joined Circle as a non-executive director in September 2005. He subsequently assumed the key executive roles of Technical Director and Chief Operating Officer.  

Professor Green is an explorationist and geophysicist with some 35 years experience in the oil and gas industry including 24 years at Shell, before leaving in 1998 as a Principal Geophysicist and a Global Shell Group Advisor. From 1998 to 2001 he was Director of Strategic Development and Geosciences at Racal Electronics and from 2001 to 2004 he was Chief Technical Officer at Thales Geosolutions Group. During the period 1996 to 2004 he was also Professor of Geophysics at the University of Saint Andrews in Scotland.

Professor Green is a former elected Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, the Geological Society and a former Member of the Institute of Petroleum. He is a Member of the European Association of Exploration Geophysicists.

The Chairman, Thomas Anderson, said:

 "Circle is fortunate to have someone of Professor Green's calibre to lead the Company forward. The strong position of Circle today as a successful exploration Company with growing production revenues owes much to Chris's expertise and vision. There are many exciting opportunities ahead of us and under his leadership shareholders can feel confident of continued delivery."

ENDS

For further information contact: 

Circle Oil Plc (+44 20 7638 9571)

Thomas Anderson, Chairman

Professor Chris Green, Chief Executive Officer

Evolution Securities (+44 20 7071 4311)

Rob Collins

Chris Sim

Neil Elliot

Fox-Davies Capital (+44 20 7936 5230)

Daniel Fox-Davies

Citigate Dewe Rogerson (+44 20 7638 9571)

Martin Jackson

Murray Consultants

Joe Heron +353 87 690 9735

Joe Murray +353 86 853 4950

Notes to Editors

Circle Oil Plc

Circle Oil Plc (AIM: COP) is an international oil & gas exploration, development and production Company with an expanding portfolio of assets in Morocco, Tunisia, Oman and Egypt, with a combination of producing, low-risk near-term production and acerage with significant upside exploration potential.  The Company listed on AIM in October 2004.

Internationally, the Company has continued to expand its portfolio over the past 2 years and now has assets in the Rharb Basin, Morocco; the Ras Marmour Permit in southern Tunisia; the Mahdia Permit offshore Tunisia; the Grombalia Permit in northern Tunisia; and the Zeit Bay area of Egypt. Circle also has the largest licence holding of any Company in Oman. In addition to offshore Block 52, the Company also has an ongoing exploration program in Block 49 onshore.

The Company's strategy is to locate and secure additional licenses in prospective hydrocarbon provinces and through targeted investment programmes, monetise the value in those assets for the benefit of shareholders. Circle may use its own expertise to appraise reserves and bring assets into production, generating sustained cash flow for further investment. In addition it may seek farm-outs to selected partners who would then invest in the exploration and continue through to the development of the assets for production.

Further information on Circle is available on its website at www.circleoil.net.