Notification of Shareholding

3 April 2014

CIRCLE OIL PLC

("Circle" or the "Company")

Notification of Shareholding

Circle Oil Plc (AIM: COP), the international oil and gas exploration, development and production company, announces that Norges Bank Investment Management confirmed on 2 April 2014 that as at 1 April 2014, it had an aggregate interest in 17,954,130 ordinary shares of Euro 0.01 each in the Company, representing 3.19% of the Company's issued share capital.

For further information contact: 

Circle Oil Plc (+44 20 7638 9571)

Professor Chris Green, CEO

Brendan McMorrow, CFO

Investec (+44 20 7597 5970)

Chris Sim

George Price

James Rudd

Liberum Capital Limited (+44 20 3100 2222)

Simon Atkinson

Citigate Dewe Rogerson (+44 20 7638 9571)

Martin Jackson

Shabnam Bashir

Murray Consultants (+353 1 498 0300)

Joe Murray

Joe Heron

Notes to Editors

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 low-risk near-term production and significant exploration upside potential.The Company listed on AIM in October 2004.

Internationally, the Company has continued to expand its portfolio over the past number of 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 licence holding of any company in Oman. In addition to its prospective Block 52 offshore, Circle also 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 itself 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.