Norwegian North Sea, Clapton well commences

24 May 2012

Faroe Petroleum plc ("Faroe Petroleum", "Faroe", the "Company")

Norwegian North Sea, Clapton exploration well commences

Faroe Petroleum, the independent oil and gas company focusing principally on exploration, appraisal and production opportunities in the Atlantic margin, the North Sea and Norway, is pleased to announce that drilling has commenced on the Clapton prospect in the Norwegian North Sea (Faroe 40% and operator).

Well 2/8-18 S is Faroe Petroleum's first operated well in Norway and will target the Clapton Prospect located in PL440 S in block 2/8, approximately 5 km east of the Eldfisk East Field and 10 km north of the Valhall Field.

Clapton is a chalk prospect on the flanks of the salt induced Mode Dome and the well will target the Ekofisk, Tor and Hod formations, which are the main producing reservoirs in the neighbouring fields.

The well will be drilled using the Maersk Guardian jack-up rig and the partnership consists of Dana Petroleum Norway AS (20%), Lundin Norway AS (18%), Norwegian Energy Company ASA (12%) and Det Norske Oljeselskap ASA (10%).

Graham Stewart, Chief Executive of Faroe Petroleum, commented:

"We are pleased to announce the spudding of Faroe Petroleum's first operated well in Norway. The well is targeting the Clapton prospect, which is in close proximity to a number of giant oil fields in this prolific area of the Norwegian North Sea.

"This is an exiting period for Faroe Petroleum with three high impact exploration wells drilling at the same time. We look forward to the results of the Cooper well in the Norwegian North Sea (Faroe 30%), the North Uist exploration well west of Shetland (Faroe 6.3%) together with our own operated Clapton well."

For further information please contact:

Jan‐Tore Paulsen, Exploration Manager Norway of Faroe Petroleum and a Geophysicist (MSc. in Geophysics from University of Bergen), who has been involved in the energy industry for 15 years, has read and approved the technical disclosure in this regulatory announcement.

Notes to Editors

The Company has, through successive licence applications and acquisitions, built a substantial portfolio of exploration, appraisal, development and production assets across the Atlantic Margin, the UK and Norwegian North Sea and the Norwegian Sea. Faroe has extensive experience working with major oil companies and its joint venture partners include BP, Chevron, DONG, ENI, E.ON Ruhrgas, GDF, OMV, RWE Dea, Statoil and Wintershall.

The Company's licence portfolio provides considerable spread of risk and reward, encompassing over 40 licences located in the West of Shetlands, offshore the Faroe Islands, the UK North Sea and Norway. In addition Faroe now has interests in 10 producing oil and gas fields in the UK and Norway, including the 2011 acquisitions of an interest in the Blane oil field in the UK and interests in the Brage, Hyme, Njord, Ringhorne East and Jotun fields in Norway.

Faroe Petroleum plc is quoted on the AIM Market of London Stock Exchange plc with offices in Aberdeen, Stavanger, London and Torshavn. The Company is well financed with a fully funded drilling programme extending into 2013 and has a highly experienced technical team at the leading edge of seismic and geological interpretation, reservoir engineering and field development, focused on creating exceptional value for its shareholders.