30th Jun 2006 11:57
Petroceltic International PLC30 June 2006 IEX SCHEDULE ONE-PRE-ADMISSION ANNOUNCEMENT ANNOUNCEMENT TO BE MADE BY THE IEX APPLICANT PRIOR TO ADMISSION IN ACCORDANCE WITH IEX RULE 2ALL APPLICANTS MUST COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING: COMPANY NAME:Petroceltic International plc ("Petroceltic" or the "Company")COUNTRY OF INCORPORATION:IrelandCOMPANY ADDRESS:6 Northbrook Road, Dublin 6, Ireland.COMPANY BUSINESS OR, IN THE CASE OF AN INVESTING COMPANY, DETAILS OF ITS INVESTMENT STRATEGY TO BE DISCLOSED INACCORDANCE WITH SCHEDULE TWO, PARAGRAPH (J) OF THE IEX RULES:Petroceltic is an upstream oil and gas company whose exploration assets are located in North Africa (Algeria andTunisia), the Mediterranean (Italy) and offshore Ireland.DETAILS OF SECURITIES TO BE ADMITTED (i.e. where known, number of shares, nominal value and issue price to which itseeks admission and the number and type to be held as treasury shares):737,327,818 ordinary shares with a nominal value of €0.0125 each ("Ordinary Shares")CAPITAL TO BE RAISED ON ADMISSION:NilFULL NAMES AND FUNCTIONS OF DIRECTORS AND PROPOSED DIRECTORS:The board of directors of the Company (the "Directors") consists of the following: Brian Cusack, Executive Chairman John Craven, Chief Executive Officer Philip O'Quigley, Finance Director Con Casey, Non-Executive Director Christian Schaffalitzky, Non-Executive DirectorPERSON(S) INTERESTED IN 5% OR MORE OF THE ISSUER'S CAPITAL, EXPRESSED AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE ISSUED SHARE CAPITAL BEFOREAND AFTER ADMISSION:Pre and Post Admission Shareholdings Shareholder Number of Ordinary Shares held %RAB Capital plc 62,856,624 8.52%FMR Corp and Fidelity International Limited 38,703,922 5.25%NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF ALL PERSONS TO BE DISCLOSED IN ACCORDANCE WITH SCHEDULE TWO, PARAGRAPH (H) OF THE IEX RULES: NoneANTICIPATED ACCOUNTING REFERENCE DATE: 31 DecemberEXPECTED ADMISSION DATE:31 July 2006NAME AND ADDRESS OF IEX ADVISER:Davy, Davy House, 49 Dawson Street, Dublin 2, IrelandNAME AND ADDRESS OF BROKER:Davy, Davy House, 49 Dawson Street, Dublin 2, IrelandDETAILS OF WHERE (POSTAL OR INTERNET ADDRESS) THE ADMISSION DOCUMENT WILL BE AVAILABLE FROM, WITH A STATEMENT THAT THISWILL CONTAIN FULL DETAILS ABOUT THE APPLICANT AND THE ADMISSION OF ITS SECURITIES:N/A.DATE OF NOTIFICATION:(INSERT DATE OF RELEASE OF PRELIMINARIES)NEW[DEL:/ UPDATE (see note)::DEL]QUOTED APPLICANTS MUST ALSO COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING: THE NAME OF THE IEX DESIGNATED MARKET UPON WHICH THE APPLICANT'S SECURITIES HAVE BEEN TRADED: AIM Market of the London Stock ExchangeTHE DATE FROM WHICH THE APPLICANT'S SECURITIES HAVE BEEN SO TRADED: 26 September 2001CONFIRMATION THAT, FOLLOWING DUE AND CAREFUL ENQUIRY, THE APPLICANT HAS ADHERED TO ANY LEGAL AND REGULATORY REQUIREMENTSINVOLVED IN HAVING ITS SECURITIES TRADED UPON SUCH A MARKET:The Directors confirm, following due and careful enquiry, that Petroceltic has complied with all relevant legal andregulatory requirements involved in having its Ordinary Shares traded on the AIM Market of the London Stock ExchangeAN ADDRESS OR WEB-SITE ADDRESS WHERE ANY DOCUMENTS OR ANNOUNCEMENTS WHICH THE APPLICANT HAS MADE PUBLIC OVER THE LASTTWO YEARS (IN CONSEQUENCE OF HAVING ITS SECURITIES SO TRADED) ARE AVAILABLE: 6 Northbrook Road, Dublin 6, Ireland and www.petroceltic.ieDETAILS OF THE APPLICANT'S STRATEGY FOLLOWING ADMISSION INCLUDING, IN THE CASE OF AN INVESTING COMPANY, DETAILS OF ITSINVESTMENT STRATEGY:Petroceltic's strategy is to achieve capital appreciation for shareholders through acreage acquisition, deal flow,appraisal and exploration drilling. The following is a background and summary of the Company's strategy and forthcomingactivities for its exploration assets. In addition to these activities, Petroceltic will continue to reviewopportunities for adding to and maximising value of its exploration portfolio. Algeria Petroceltic has entered into a Production Sharing Contract with Sonatrach, the Algerian state oil company for theIsarene permit area (blocks 228/229). The Isarene block is located in the south of the Illizi Basin in south easternAlgeria and covers approximately 10,872km2, has 10 gas and 2 oil discoveries already made on the block and is locatedless than 80 km from existing gas and 15 km from existing oil infrastructures. Throughout 2005 and 2006 to date theCompany has focused on the evaluation of approximately 7,500 km of 2D seismic data incorporating 16 wells that werepreviously drilled in the Isarene block and regional geological data. The Company has now delineated 3 core areas inthe Isarene block and has awarded a drilling contract to Schlumberger to project manage and provide a fully integrateddrilling package for up to 2 wells. It is anticipated that the spud date for the first of these two wells will be nolater than mid August 2006. The Directors expect this to be the start of a programme for seismic and drillingactivities in the Isarene block over the coming 3 to 4 years. Italy Petroceltic has a 40% interest in the Italian offshore block B.R.268.RG ("Elsa") and in the onshore block Civitiquana(which has been provisionally awarded for a 6 year licence term). The Company is in continuing discussions with itspartners on how to best exploit these assets. Petroceltic is acquiring seismic data on these assets and following atechnical evaluation of this data intends to select a drilling location and enter into a drilling contract to drillElsa. Ireland Petroceltic has a 16.25% non operated interest in a farm-in agreement with Ramco Donegal Limited and Sunningdale DonegalLimited covering 3 blocks offshore Donegal in the Atlantic Margin province which have a Frontier Exploration Licence.This licence contains several prospective gas structures, the largest of which is the Inishbeg prospect, which isscheduled to be drilled in the Summer of 2006. In addition, Petroceltic has a royalty interest on the Kinsale Head GasField operated by Marathon which entitles the Company to a 25% share in a royalty between 2% and 5% of the gas salesincome. Tunisia Petroceltic has entered into a Production Sharing Contract with the Tunisian Government and State Oil Company (ETAP) fora 7,000 km2 onshore area known as the Ksar Hadada block in southern Tunisia, which has two prospects in the southernpart of the block 'Sidi Toui' and 'Oryx. The Company granted a farm-in option to Independent Resources Plc to obtain a40% interest in the Ksar Hadada block and Petroceltic now has a 57% interest in the block and remains as operator. In2004, Petroceltic drilled a well into the Sidi Toui prospect area which penetrated the target quartzite reservoir in anoptimal structured position. However the drilling rig had to be released to another operator before the well could beextensively tested. Petroceltic and its partner are planning to re-enter and test the Sidi Toui well in the second halfof 2006. In addition, Petroceltic has acquired and processed approximately 110 km of new seismic data over the Oryxprospect area which has been incorporated into the existing data base and will form the platform for planned futuredrilling on this prospect.A DESCRIPTION OF ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN FINANCIAL OR TRADING POSITION OF THE APPLICANT, WHICH HAS OCCURRED SINCE THEEND OF THE LAST FINANCIAL PERIOD FOR WHICH AUDITED STATEMENTS HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED:In January 2006, an agreement to use a Petrolia Rig to drill on the Donegal Licence area in summer 2006 was signed. In March 2006, Petroceltic awarded a drilling contract to Schlumberger to project manage and provide a fully integrateddrilling package for up to 2 wells for the Company's 2006 drilling programme in Algeria. In April 2006, Petroceltic raised US$40 million by way of a conditional placing of 153,637,642 new Ordinary Shares, madein two tranches (the "Placing"). Funds managed by RAB Capital plc, who entered into a US$25 million underwritingagreement with the Company, were allocated 49,337,642 Ordinary Shares in the first tranche of the Placing. The netproceeds of the Placing, are to be used to finance the Company's 2006 three well drilling programme in Algeria andIreland, to fund the Company's new Algerian seismic campaign and to allow the Company to accelerate its drilling plansfor Italy. With the exception of the matters outlined above, there has been no significant change in the financial or tradingposition of Petroceltic International plc since 31 December 2005, the end of the last financial year for which auditedfinancial statements have been published.A STATEMENT THAT THE DIRECTORS OF THE APPLICANT HAVE NO REASON TO BELIEVE THAT THE WORKING CAPITAL AVAILABLE TO IT ORITS GROUP WILL BE INSUFFICIENT FOR AT LEAST TWELVE MONTHS FROM THE DATE OF ITS ADMISSION: The Directors have no reason to believe that the working capital available to Petroceltic will be insufficient for atleast 12 months from the date of admission to the IEX MarketDETAILS OF ANY LOCK-IN ARRANGEMENTS PURSUANT TO RULE 7 OF THE IEX RULES: The Directors will individually enter into lock in agreements with the Company and Davy that they will not sell,transfer or otherwise dispose of any Ordinary Shares or any interest in Ordinary Shares (except in limitedcircumstances, including a takeover, death, financial hardship and court orders) for a period of 6 months from the dateof admission of the Company's Ordinary Shares to trading on the IEX Market.A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ARRANGEMENTS FOR SETTLING THE APPLICANT'S SECURITIES: Transfers of Ordinary Shares in the Company may be made through CREST or in certificated form.A WEBSITE ADDRESS DETAILING THE RIGHTS ATTACHING TO THE APPLICANT'S SECURITIES: www.petroceltic.ieINFORMATION EQUIVALENT TO THAT REQUIRED FOR AN ADMISSION DOCUMENT WHICH IS NOT CURRENTLY PUBLIC: NoneA WEBSITE ADDRESS OF A PAGE CONTAINING THE APPLICANT'S LATEST ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS WHICH MUST HAVE A FINANCIALYEAR END NOT MORE THAN NINE MONTHS PRIOR TO ADMISSION AND FULLY AUDITED INTERIM RESULTS WHERE APPLICABLE. THE ACCOUNTSMUST BE PREPARED ACCORDING TO IRISH, UK OR US GAAP OR INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS.www.petroceltic.ieTHE NUMBER OF EACH CLASS OF SECURITIES HELD IN TREASURY.6,713,810 warrants over Ordinary Shares Note: THIS FIELD SHOULD INDICATE THAT THE ANNOUNCEMENT IS 'NEW' AND ALL RELEVANT FIELDS SHOULD BE COMPLETED. OTHERWISEWHERE THE FORM IS REQUIRED TO BE COMPLETED IN RESPECT OF AN 'UPDATE' ANNOUNCEMENT, THIS SHOULD BE INDICATED. IN SUCHCASES, ALL THE ORIGINAL INFORMATION SHOULD BE INCLUDED WITH ANY AMENDED FIELDS EMBOLDENED. This announcement has been issued through the Companies Announcement Service of The Irish Stock Exchange This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
PCI.L