Petroceltic International PLC : Award of Egyptian Licence

Dublin

9th November, 2012

PETROCELTIC INTERNATIONAL PLC

Award of Egyptian Licence

Petroceltic International plc ("Petroceltic" or "the Company"), the upstream oil and gas exploration and production company focused on North Africa, the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions, is pleased to announce its participation in a joint venture which was the successful bidder on Block 12 'El Qa'a Plain' in the 2011 Egypt General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) bid round which closed on March 29, 2012.

Partners in the application were Petroceltic (37.5% Working Interest), Dana Petroleum (37.5% Working Interest, as Operator), and Beach Petroleum (25% Working Interest). The block is composed of two largely unexplored areas covering 1824 square kilometres in the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula, east of the prolific Gulf of Suez. The overall licence term for the Block is 6 years, with the work commitment in the first 4 year period comprising the acquisition of a minimum 450 square kilometres of new 3D seismic data and the drilling of at least one exploration well.

It is expected that the new concession will be formally awarded in 2013 following the ratification process which culminates when each concession is passed into law by the People's Assembly (Parliament).

Brian O'Cathain, Chief Executive of Petroceltic commented:

"We are delighted to have been awarded the El Qa'a Plain Block and believe the combination of Petroceltic, Dana and Beach will bring an outstanding combination of technical and operational skills to the exploration of this underexplored region.  We have already identified a number of structures which we believe to be potentially prospective for oil and these will be the focus of our work in the first phase of the licence."

For further information, please contact:

Brian O' Cathain/Tom Hickey, Petroceltic International          Tel: +353 (1) 421 8300

Philip Dennis/Rollo Crichton-Stuart,

Pelham Bell Pottinger                                                              Tel: +44 (20) 7861 3919

Joe Murray/Joe Heron, Murray Consultants                            Tel: +353 (1) 498 0300

John Frain, Davy                                                                      Tel: +353 (1) 679 6363

Dr. Dermot Corcoran, Head of Exploration, Petroceltic International plc, is the qualified person who has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this announcement. Dr. Corcoran has a B.Sc in Geology, a M.Sc. in Geophysics, and a Masters degree in Business Administration, all from the National University of Ireland, Galway. He also holds a Ph.D in Geology from Trinity College, Dublin. Dr. Corcoran has over 20 years experience in oil & gas exploration and production, and has previously worked at ExxonMobil, the Petrofina Group, and Statoil.

Notes to the editors

Petroceltic International plc (AIM:PCI.L, ESM: EG5, ISIN: IE0003186172) is a regionally focused North Africa, Mediterranean and Black Sea independent oil and gas company with a balanced portfolio comprising production, development and high-impact exploration assets. The Company has interests in Bulgaria, Egypt, Algeria, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Italy and Romania and has 2P reserves of 79.2 MMboe as at 30 June 2012 in addition to, contingent resources of 357 MMboe and unrisked prospective resources of 1,365 MMboe as at 1 January 2012.