Government leaders attend Ceremonial Signing of JV

Altona Energy Plc / Index: AIM / Epic: ANR / Sector: Exploration & Production

22 June 2010

Altona Energy Plc ('Altona' or 'the Company')

Vice President of the People's Republic of China and President of CNOOC, join Australian government leaders for Ceremonial Signing of JV

Altona Energy Plc, the AIM listed Australia-based energy company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Arckaringa Energy Pty Ltd, is pleased to announce that on Monday 21 June 2010, the ceremonial signing of the Arckaringa Unincorporated Evaluation Joint Venture ('the JV') took place at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, in the presence of Mr. Xi Jinping, the visiting Vice President of the People's Republic of China, Australia's Prime Minister, Mr. Kevin Rudd, and South Australia's Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr. Tom Koutsantonis.

The attendance of China's Vice President at the signing formed part of his official State visit to Australia, and included his witnessing of agreements which were selected as prime examples of the expanding economic partnership between Chinese and Australian commercial interests.

The inclusion of the Altona-CNOOC JV Agreement in this milestone ceremonial signing follows the announcement on 1 June 2010 confirming that the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board had no objection to the JV under Australia's Foreign Investment Policy.

The JV Agreement was formally signed by Mr. Fu Chengyu, the President of CNOOC - one of China's major oil companies - and Mr. Chris Lambert, Chairman of Altona. The Vice President of the People's Republic of China and the Prime Minister of Australia were joined at the Altona-CNOOC Canberra signing by State and Federal Government Officials, senior industry representatives from China and Australia, including the JV team.

Altona Chairman Chris Lambert said, "The fact that the ceremonial signing was witnessed by China's Vice President and Australia's Prime Minister, along with the President of CNOOC and South Australia's Minister for Trade and Industry, underpins the commitment being made by China and Australia to the long-term success of this project.

"For the Arckaringa Project to be elevated to the international stage and included in such a significant ceremony between Australia and China, demonstrates the importance and substantial potential value of our Project, especially for the development of South Australia."

Mr Lambert also said: "The JV between Altona and CNOOC-NEIA is assessing the multiple project potential for the Arckaringa Project, focussed on the commercialisation of the world class energy bank in the Arckaringa Basin. The Altona Board believes that the JV has significantly reduced risk to Altona shareholders and secured both funding and a strong partner; not only to carry out the staged evaluation work of the BFS, but also to take responsibility for the evaluation of coal development, coal to liquid, synthetic natural gas, power co-generation and other potential clean energy projects."

In addition to the Altona and CNOOC-NEIA teams, the following senior figures attended the signing of the JV Agreement in Canberra:

**ENDS**

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Notes

Altona Energy Plc is an AIM listed Australian based energy company. Its asset is an estimated 7.8 billion tonne coal resource (non-JORC) in the Arckaringa Basin of South Australia (JORC-compliant: 1.287 billion tonnes). This is considered by the Board to be one of the world's largest untapped energy banks. Per Jacobs Engineering's study for the Company, assuming a 50% conversion of CTL fuels and 50% to synthetic gas ('Syngas'), Arckaringa total coal resources (both JORC and non-JORC) would represent respectively 28% and 29% of current North Sea remaining proven reserves of 10,900mb of oil and 114,800 bcf of natural gas.

Altona has already accomplished a number of key phases in its development:

·; The Company has agreed the terms of a joint venture agreement with CNOOC-NEIA, a subsidiary of Chinese oil major China National Offshore Oil Corporation, to accelerate the Arckaringa Project towards commercialisation. 

·; Under the terms of the agreement, CNOOC-NEIA will fund the bankable feasibility study ('BFS') for a coal mine and an integrated value-added project. 

·; The current base case is a 10mb per year CTL plant and 560MW co-generation power facility. 

·; CNOOC-NEIA will also act as the operator and take responsibility for assessing the full potential of the coal resource, in return for a 51% interest in the exploration licences. 

·; It is envisaged that numerous new additional projects may also be opened up to create a multi-project, multi-national business. 

CTL

The quality of the Company's coal is suitable for conversion to synthetic gas ('Syngas'), using existing commercial CTL technologies. The process involves two major stages;

1. gasification to produce Syngas rich in hydrogen and carbon,

2. a liquefication stage where the Syngas is reacted over a catalyst to produce high quality, ultraclean synthetic fuels and chemical feedstocks. 

CTL is a prime example of clean coal technology - the associated combined cycle units produce negligible sulphur oxides, significantly less nitrogen oxides and 10-20% less CO2 per unit of power generated than a conventional coal fired plant, whilst carbon capture and storage offers the potential to reduce the overall greenhouse gas emissions from CTL to below the 'well to wheel' level of fuels derived from crude oil. The technology is best demonstrated in South Africa, where currently 30% of the country's gasoline and diesel fuel needs are met through CTL plants.