21 FEBRUARY 2012

WENTWORTH RESOURCES LIMITED
("Wentworth" or the "Company")

 PRE-EMPTION UPDATE REGARDING ACQUISITION OF
COVE ENERGY'S INTEREST IN MNAZI BAY CONCESSION, TANZANIA

Further to the announcements on January 30, 2012 and February 1, 2012, regarding Wentworth's proposed acquisition of Cove Energy plc's ("Cove Energy") 16.38% participation interest in the production operations (20.475% participation interest in exploration operations) in the Mnazi Bay Concession (the "Transaction" and the "Concession" respectively), the Company is pleased to provide the following update:

  • The Government of Tanzania has approved the Transaction 

  • Concession partner and operator, M&P Exploration and Production Tanzania Limited ("M&P"), has elected to exercise its right of pre-emption under the Joint Operating Agreement 

  • M&P's election to exercise its right of pre-emption is subject to government approval, and  

  • Concession partner, Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation ("TPDC"), has elected not to exercise its right of pre-emption. 

Pre-emption affect on the Participation Interest in the Concession

Upon receipt of government approval of M&P's pre-emptive election and consideration from M&P to Wentworth for their prorata share (60.075%) of the cash equivalent value of the Transaction (approximately US$38.8 million) the Concession partnership will be as follows:

Partner Percentage Interest in Production Percentage Interest in Exploration
M&P (operator) 48.06 60.075
Wentworth 31.94 39.925
TPDC 20.00 -

Managing Director, Geoff Bury, commented:

"We welcomed the opportunity to acquire a larger stake in Mnazi Bay and are supportive of M&P's decision to acquire its prorata share of Cove Energy's interest, as it reflects our own confidence in and commitment to this concession. We wish to thank the Government of Tanzania and TPDC for their professionalism and swift action to approve our initial Transaction and we look forward to reporting our current drilling progress to all our stakeholders."

ENDS

About the Mnazi Bay Concession

The Mnazi Bay Concession Area is located in coastal, south-eastern Tanzania in the Ruvuma Basin. The area lies between Aminex's Ruvuma Concession Area and BG Group's offshore Block 1. The 756 km² concession area contains two discovered Tertiary aged gas fields (Mnazi Bay and Msimbati) and holds additional Tertiary, Cretaceous and Jurassic hydrocarbon potential. Four wells have been drilled to date:  MB-1, MB-2, MB-3 and MS-1X, and all four wells encountered hydrocarbons. MB-1 is currently producing gas at a rate of 1.7-2.0mmscf/d and this gas is transported via an 8", 27 kilometre pipeline to the Mtwara Power Plant where it generates electricity for numerous local communities. A new exploration well, Ziwani-1, is currently being drilled approximately 13 kilometres to the west of the producing Mnazi Bay and Msimbati Gas Fields.

Enquiries:

Wentworth Bob McBean, Executive Chairman rpm@wentworthresources.com
Eric Fore, Finance, Investor & Public Relations Manager etf@wentworthresources.com
Panmure Gordon Nominated adviser & broker +44 (0) 20 7459 3600
Katherine Roe
Brett Jacobs
FirstEnergy Capital Broker +44 (0) 20 7448 0200
Majid Shafiq
Travis Inlow
College Hill Investment relations adviser +44 (0) 20 7457 2020
Nick Elwes
Catherine Maitland
Alexandra Roper
Axxept Investment relations adviser +47 (0) 99 22 0200
Per Arne Totland

About Wentworth Resources

Wentworth Resources is a publicly traded (AIM:WRL, OSE:WRL), independent oil & gas company with:  natural gas production; midstream assets; a committed exploration and appraisal drilling programme; and large-scale gas monetisation opportunities, all in the Rovuma Delta Basin of coastal southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique.

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Ce noodl a été diffusé par Wentworth Resources Ltd. et publié initialement sur http://www.wentworthresources.com. Il a été distribué par noodls le 2012-02-21 09:48:21 AM sans aucune modification. L’émetteur est seul responsable de l’exactitude des informations fournies.