RNS Number:2357U
Sterling Energy PLC
14 January 2004


                              Sterling Energy plc
                                       
                                        
Offer for Fusion Oil & Gas plc by Evolution Beeson Gregory Limited on behalf of
                Sterling Energy plc ("Sterling" or the "Company")
                                        
                                        
                                  Offer Update
                                      
                                      

As at 3.00 p.m. on 13 January 2004, Sterling owned 20,000,211 Fusion Shares and
had received valid acceptances for the Offer from holders of 77,877,067 Fusion
Shares, in total representing approximately 95.37 per cent. of Fusion's issued
ordinary share capital.

The valid acceptances received by Sterling under the Offer represent
approximately 94.25 per cent. of the Fusion Shares to which the Offer relates.

Compulsory Acquisition and De-listing from AIM

Accordingly in due course Sterling intends to implement procedures set out in
sections 428 to 430F of the Companies Act 1985 (as amended) (the "Act") to
acquire compulsorily any outstanding Fusion Shares to which the Offer relates.
In addition, on 13 January 2004 Fusion applied to the London Stock Exchange for
the cancellation of the admission of Fusion Shares to AIM. It is expected that
such cancellation will take effect from 8.00 a.m. on 11 February 2004.

The Offer will remain open until further notice.

Forms of Acceptance not yet returned should be completed and returned in
accordance with the instructions set out in the Offer Document and the Form of
Acceptance as soon as possible. Additional Forms of Acceptance may be obtained
from Capita IRG, telephone 0870 162 3100, or if calling from outside the UK +44
20 8639 2157.

Partial Cash Alternative and Additional Cash Election

On 19 December 2003, Sterling announced that the Partial Cash Alternative and
the Additional Cash Election had closed at 3.00 p.m. on 18 December 2003.

Valid Elections for the Partial Cash Alternative were received in respect of
7,714,916 Fusion Shares and valid elections for further cash under the
Additional Cash Election were made in respect of 27,389,237 Fusion Shares.

Under the terms of the Offer the maximum cash available was #8.3 million. Of
this approximately #3.3 million was set aside to facilitate the Company's
compulsory acquisition of Fusion Shares pursuant to the provisions of section
428 to 430F of the Act. Of the approximately #5.0 million remaining,
approximately #0.77 million was required to meet the cash consideration of 10p
per Fusion Share due to those Fusion Shareholders who elected for the Partial
Cash Alternative, leaving approximately #4.23 million. Under the terms of the
Offer acceptances were pooled with categories of those who had accepted the
Offer prior to it being declared wholly unconditional in all respects at 8.00
a.m. on 10 December 2003 and those that accepted after that date. Of the
27,389,237 Fusion Shares for which valid acceptances for the Additional Cash
Election were received, holders of 105,692 Fusion Shares fall into the former
category and their elections to receive cash have been satisfied in full, which
equates to 37.5p per Fusion Share. The holders of the remaining 27,283,545
Fusion Shares who validly elected for the Additional Cash Election have received
a total of 15.38p in cash and approximately 2.01 New Sterling Shares for each
Fusion Share.

The words and expressions defined in the Offer Document dated 1 October 2003
shall apply for the purpose of this announcement.

Evolution Beeson Gregory, which is regulated in the United Kingdom by the
Financial Services Authority, is acting exclusively for Sterling and no one else
in connection with the Offer and other matters described herein will not be
responsible to anyone other than Sterling for providing the protections afforded
to customers of Evolution Beeson Gregory or for giving advice in relation to the
Offer or any other matter described in this announcement.







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

END
OUPUSVSRSBRAAAR