In December 2007, Sterling Resources Ltd discovered the Ana Field, approximately 120 km from Constanta in the Romanian Black Sea.
Combined with the Doina field, which is around 17km north east of Ana, the two accumulations make up the 3rd largest gas field in Romania and should they prove to be commercially viable then production from them would be between 1 and 1.5 billion cubic meters (BCM) of gas per year.
The fields have certified resources of 7.6 BCM based on all available data and information.
In 2012, the earliest the fields could be brought on production under the current circumstances, the gas from the fields would represent around 10 to 15% of domestic production and up to 6% of projected gas demand in Romania.
Sterling Resources, the Titleholder of the license, has invested over $65mm in Romania since they initially became involved in the offshore blocks back in 1997.
The company is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and has material acreage positions in the United Kingdom (UK), France and Romania.
In 2007, Sterling also discovered the Breagh Gas Field in the UK Southern North Sea (UK SNS). Breagh is operated by Sterling, on behalf of a partnership, and is the 10th largest gas field ever to be discovered in the UK SNS. The field has certified 2P(proven plus probable) reserves of around 15 BCM of gas with a further 7 BCM of gas classified as 2C Resources.
Sterling is an approved Exploration Operator both in the UK and Romania, and has been operating in Romania since 2000, when the government approved the award of the EIII-7 Sud Craiova License.
Sterling, through the wholly owned Romanian subsidiary of Midia Resources SRL, operates the license on behalf of a partnership made up of Melrose Resources, Gas Plus International and Petroventures Europe. The goal of the partnership is to invest an additional $450 million to bring the development on to production by 2012, with Melrose designated to lead the development using their experience in Bulgaria, Egypt and the USA.
The Doina and Ana fields are estimated to provide the Romanian State with around $1 billion in direct and indirect revenues over the life of this one project under the current fiscal terms in Romania.
In addition to the Ana and Doina fields, the partnership plans to invest in drilling around five (5) further exploration wells on the Pelican and Midia blocks to cement their position as key investors bringing energy security to Romania over the next five years.
Sterling`s track record as an investor and safe operator of oil and gas operations in Romania is one of the best in their industry with over five (5) wells and over 4,000 km of seismic acquired as operator since 2004 on their onshore and offshore licenses with no harm to the environment and no accidents or injuries to staff or contractors.
The future looks exciting with Sterling planning to drill three (3) wells on the Craiova onshore concession in 2009 and the prospect of progressing the Ana and Doina fields to a declaration of commerciality as early as 2010.
On Canada`s Day, in our capacity as a Canadian investor, we at Sterling reaffirm our commitment to the Petroleum Agreement we have with the Romanian Government for the Black Sea perimeters and we look forward to contributing to Romania`s energy security through our investment.
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