EO. Encore Oil

RNS Number:1120U
EnCore Oil PLC
02 April 2007

PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release: 2 April 2007

EnCore Oil plc ("EnCore" or "the Company")

                Offshore Gas Storage Feasibility Study Expanded

EnCore Oil plc (LSE:EO.) and Star Energy Group plc ("Star Energy") have agreed
to extend the Forbes gas storage feasibility study and farm-in deal to the
Esmond field, with an option to extend it further to the Gordon field.

This announcement follows that made in December 2006 when Star Energy signed a
farm-in agreement to EnCore's UKCS Block 43/8 (the Forbes field) to investigate
that field's potential for conversion into a seasonal gas store with up to 50
bcf of working gas capacity. The extension announced today includes EnCore's
UKCS Block 43/13a (the Esmond field) and potentially UKCS Blocks 43/15a and 43/
20a (the Gordon field) at a later date, subject to certain conditions. All three
blocks (43/13a, 43/15a and 43/20a) are currently 100% owned by EnCore.

Alan Booth, Chief Executive Officer, said of the latest agreement:

"We are pleased to be able to announce a significant extension of our current
agreement with Star Energy to cover the entire Forbes, Esmond and Gordon
complex. The UK is becoming increasingly reliant on imported gas supplies, which
can be subject to supply disruptions caused by market, political and technical
factors. Security of supply has been identified by the UK Government as a
critical issue that must be addressed. It has long been known that the UK lags
much of Europe in the provision of gas storage. This project has the potential
to more than double the UK's gas storage capability."

Under the terms of the new farm-out agreement, Star Energy will undertake an
extended feasibility study on the Esmond and Gordon field areas. In addition,
Star Energy will pay a further #250,000 (to the #1 million already committed to
the Forbes field) towards the cost of extending the currently planned low
density 3D seismic survey to incorporate the Esmond and Gordon field areas. As
with the Forbes field agreement, this farm-out allows Star Energy to earn up to
50 per cent. of the licences and to become operator. If the feasibility study
proves positive, Star Energy will conduct a Front End Engineering & Design
(FEED) study and will also bear the cost of drilling the first well in the
farm-out areas. Under this agreement with EnCore, the extended feasibility study
must be completed by the end of 2007.

The Esmond field was originally developed by Hamilton Oil and lies in close
proximity to both Forbes and Gordon which were produced via a tie-back to
Esmond. The original gas in place on Esmond was in the order of 350 bcf.

Preliminary studies undertaken by Star Energy indicate the Esmond field has the
potential to be developed into a seasonal gas store with over 100 bcf of working
gas capacity.

Graham Dore B.Sc. (Hons.) in Geology and M.Sc. in Petroleum Geology and EnCore's
Exploration Director, who has over 19 years' experience in the oil exploration
and production industry, has reviewed and approved the technical information
contained in this announcement.


For further information, please contact:

EnCore Oil plc                                  www.encoreoil.co.uk
Alan Booth, Chief Executive Officer             +44 (0)20 7224 4546
Eugene Whyms, Chief Financial Officer

Aquila Financial Limited                        www.aquila-financial.com
Peter Reilly                                    +44 (0)20 7202 2601
Yvonne Fraser                                   +44 (0)20 7202 2609

Hanson Westhouse Limited
Tim Feather                                     +44 (0)113 246 2610

KBC Peel Hunt
Jonathan Marren                                 +44 (0)20 7418 8900


Note to Editors:

Star Energy's option to acquire an interest in the Gordon field for potential
use as a gas storage prospect is conditional on the results of any drilling that
may take place on the underlying Carboniferous Bennett prospect. Bennett is an
undrilled gas prospect on Blocks 43/15a and 43/20a with potential to contain a
significant gas accumulation. EnCore is currently in discussions with a number
of potentially interested parties with a view to farming out an interest in the
prospect in return for contributing to the costs of drilling a well. In the
event of any commercial success and subsequent development at Bennett, it is
unlikely that it would be practicable to develop Gordon as a gas storage
project.



                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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