Appointment of Non-Executive Directors

7 January 2015

Circle Oil Plc

("Circle" or the "Company")

Directorate Change

Appointment of Non-Executive Directors

The Board of Circle Oil plc is pleased to announce the appointments of Antony Maris and David MacFarlane as Non-Executive Directors of the Company.

Antony Wayne Maris (53) is currently Chief Operating Officer of SOCO International plc, a FTSE 250 E&P company with assets in Vietnam, the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola. Antony is responsible for the management and supervision of all of SOCO's operations globally. Hehas been with SOCO since 2004 and has been responsible for the appraisal and development of the company's Cuu Long Basin assets, the CNV and TGT Fields.

Prior to SOCO, Antony was Operations and Technical Director for Consort Resources, Head of Commercial, Europe and North Africa for LASMO plc and held various roles with Monument Oil & Gas. Antony began his career as a Petroleum Engineer with Phillips Petroleum and holds a BSc in Petroleum Engineering and a MBA.

David Archibald MacFarlane (57) brings over 30 years of financial management and directorship experience from the oil and gas industry. David has held a number of senior financial roles within the industry since originally qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1981. He was Finance Director of FTSE 250 Dana Petroleum plc, where from 2002 onwards, he oversaw a tenfold growth in market capitalisation to a value close to £1.6 billion at the point of takeover by Korean National Oil Company in 2010. David was also a Non-Executive Director of Kentz Corporation Limited, a company acquired by SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. for £1.16 billion in August 2014.

David's previous roles include that of Finance Manager of Europe, North Africa and Asia for the production business unit of Amerada Hess, and Commercial and Financial Director for JP Kenny Engineering, a subsidiary of John Wood Group plc, where he worked on both the acquisition and integration of the business. David is also a Non-Executive Director of AIM-listed Trinity Exploration and Production.

Steve Jenkins, Chairman, said,

"I am delighted that both Antony and David have joined Circle, they bring a wealth of operational and management experience gained within the oil & gas industry and will further strengthen our Board. I look forward to their valuable input as we continue to develop the Company."

Save as set out below there is no further information required to be disclosed pursuant to paragraph (g) of Schedule 2 of the AIM Rules for Messrs Maris and MacFarlane;

David MacFarlane

For further information contact:

Circle Oil Plc (+44 20 7638 9571)

Steve Jenkins, Chairman

Investec (+44 20 7597 5970)Chris SimGeorge Price

James Rudd

Liberum Capital Limited (+44 20 3100 2222)Clayton Bush

Citigate Dewe Rogerson (+44 20 7638 9571)Martin JacksonShabnam Bashir

Murray Consultants (+353 1 498 0320)Joe MurrayJoe Heron

Notes to Editors

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

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

Circle's strategy is to locate and secure additional licences in prospective hydrocarbon provinces and, through targeted investment programmes, monetise the value in those assets for the benefit of shareholders. This could be achieved through farm-outs to selected partners who would then invest in and continue the development of the asset into production, or Circle may opt to use its own expertise to appraise reserves and bring assets into production, generating sustained cash flow for further investment.

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