Circle Oil PLC Signing of Senior Debt Facility with IFC (2915C)

TIDMCOP

RNS Number : 2915C

Circle Oil PLC

14 March 2014

14 March 2014

Circle Oil Plc

("Circle" or the "Company")

Signing of Senior Debt Facility with IFC

Circle Oil Plc (AIM: COP), the Middle East and Africa focused oil and gas exploration, development and production company, is pleased to announce the signing of a reserve based lending facility (the "Facility") of up to US$100 million with IFC, a member of the World Bank Group.

The Facility matures in June 2018 and is secured against the Company's producing assets in Egypt and Morocco. IFC, subject to conditions precedent usual for a facility of this nature, will hold US$50 million of the Facility and syndicate the remainder to a group of international and regional banks. Syndication is ongoing and will close after signing.

The Facility is designed to release capital for investment in new exploration and development of the Company in both its core markets and elsewhere and is based on the expected cashflows from the Company's producing assets in Egypt and Morocco. The Facility will also be used to repay the existing working capital facility of US$12.5 million agreed with Ahli United Bank Egypt in December 2012. Redetermination of the loan amount is expected to be undertaken every six months based on updated technical and economic assumptions and it provides a mechanism through which new producing assets may be added in the future.

Commenting on signing of the Facility, Prof. Chris Green, CEO, said:

"We are very pleased to have signed this loan agreement with IFC which together with our existing reserves will provide Circle with the financial strength to exploit and expand its current portfolio of assets in the Middle East and Africa. This debt facility also demonstrates the quality of our producing assets in both Egypt and Morocco"

For further information contact:

Circle Oil Plc ([phone])

Professor Chris Green, CEO

Brendan McMorrow, CFO

Investec ([phone])

Chris Sim

George Price

James Rudd

Liberum Capital Limited ([phone])

Simon Atkinson

Citigate Dewe Rogerson ([phone])

Martin Jackson

Shabnam Bashir

Murray Consultants ([phone])

Joe Murray

Joe Heron

Notes to Editors

Circle Oil Plc (AIM: COP) is an international oil & gas exploration, development and production Company with an expanding portfolio of assets in Morocco, Tunisia, Oman and Egypt with a combination of low-risk near-term production and significant exploration upside potential.The Company listed on AIM in October 2004.

Internationally, the Company has continued to expand its portfolio over the past number of years and now has assets in the Rharb Basin, Morocco; the Ras Marmour Permit in southern Tunisia; the Mahdia Permit offshore Tunisia; and the Zeit Bay area of Egypt. Circle also has the largest licence holding of any company in Oman. In addition to its prospective Block 52 offshore, Circle also has an ongoing exploration programme in Block 49 onshore.

Circle's strategy is to locate and secure additional licences in prospective hydrocarbon provinces and through targeted investment programmes, monetise the value in those assets for the benefit of shareholders. This could be achieved through farm-outs to selected partners who would then invest in and continue the development of the asset into production, or Circle may itself opt to use its own expertise to appraise reserves and bring assets into production, generating sustained cash flow for further investment.

Further information on Circle is available on its website at www.circleoil.net.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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