CALGARY, ALBERTA — (Marketwire) — 02/13/12 — Kulczyk Oil Ventures Inc. (WARSAW: KOV) (“Kulczyk Oil”, “KOV” or the “Company”), an international upstream oil and gas company, is pleased to report that the Ukrainian Ministry of Fuel and Energy has formally acknowledged the conversion of the Olgovskoye License from a five-year exploration license to a 20-year production license. Under the terms of an exploration license no field is allowed to produce more than 10% of volumes in place. Under the terms of the new license, production from the Olgovskoye field is no longer limited. The Olgovskoye license is operated by KUB-Gas LLC (“KUB-Gas”), a partially-owned subsidiary in which KOV has a 70% effective ownership interest.
Tim Elliott, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated that:
“The issuance of the 20-year production license for Olgovskoye is a significant accomplishment with a direct affect upon our business. We are very proud of the progress made at Olgovskoye and our other properties in Ukraine. The increasing production from Ukraine over the past 18 months has strengthened our balance sheet and will enable us to continue with our work plan so that Olgovskoye and our other licenses in Ukraine can meet their full potential.”
Olgovskoye License
The Olgovskoye license is presently the most productive of the five licenses held by KUB-Gas in the Lugansk Oblast of southeast Ukraine. Since KOV acquired its ownership interest in KUB-Gas in June 2010 five new gas wells have been drilled on the Olgovskoye license and one additional well at Olgovskoye-6 (“O-6”), which was drilled prior to June 2010, was fracture stimulated in the fourth quarter of 2011. The O-6 well was tied-in as a producing gas well in early February 2012 at a rate of 1.5 million cubic feet per day (“MMcf/d”) (1.05 MMcf/d net to KOV). Gross production from Olgovskoye is currently 12 MMcf/d to KUB-Gas (8.4 MMcf/d net to KOV), representing approximately 65% of total production from all of the licenses.
About Kulczyk Oil
Kulczyk Oil is an international upstream oil and gas exploration and production company with a diversified portfolio of projects in Brunei, Syria and Ukraine and with a risk profile ranging from exploration in Brunei and Syria to production and development in Ukraine. In addition, KOV has an option to participate for a 9% net indirect working interest in OML 42 in Nigeria. The common shares of the Company trade on the Warsaw Stock Exchange under trading symbol “KOV”.
In Brunei, KOV owns working interests in two production sharing agreements which gives the Company the right to explore for and produce oil and natural gas from Block L and Block M. KOV owns a 90% working interest in Block L, a 1,110 square kilometre (275,000 acre) area covering onshore and offshore areas in northern Brunei and a 36% working interest in Block M, a 1,505 square kilometre (372,000 acre) area onshore in southern Brunei.
In Ukraine, KOV owns an effective 70% interest in KUB-Gas LLC. The assets of KUB-Gas consist of 100% interests in five licences near to the City of Lugansk in the northeast part of Ukraine. Four of the licences are gas producing.
In Syria, KOV holds a participating interest of 50% in the Syria Block 9 production sharing contract which provides the right to explore for and, upon the satisfaction of certain conditions, to produce oil and gas from Block 9, a 10,032 square kilometre (2.48 million acre) area in northwest Syria. The Company has an agreement to assign a 5% ownership interest to a third party which is subject to the approval of Syrian authorities, and which, if approved, would leave the Company with a remaining effective interest of 45% in Syria Block 9.
In Nigeria, KOV has an option until 31 March 2012 to participate for a 9% net indirect interest in OML 42, an 814 km2 licence area in the Niger Delta with oil production and shut-in oil and gas producing capability.
The main shareholder of the Company, Kulczyk Investments S.A. owns approximately 44 % of the issued common shares. Kulczyk Investments S.A. is an international investment house founded by Polish businessman Dr. Jan Kulczyk.
For further information, please refer to the Kulczyk Oil website .
Translation: This news release has been translated into Polish from the English original.
Forward-looking Statements This release contains forward-looking statements made as of the date of this announcement with respect to future activities of KUB-Gas and related to its five license areas in Ukraine and to certain wells drilled or seismic activities undertaken within those license areas that either are not or may not be historical facts. Although the Company believes that its expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date hereof, any potential results suggested by such statements involve risk and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Various factors that could impair or prevent the Company from completing the expected activities on its projects include that the Company–s projects experience technical and mechanical problems, there are changes in product prices, failure to obtain regulatory approvals, the state of the national or international monetary, oil and gas, financial, political and economic markets in the jurisdictions where the Company operates and other risks not anticipated by the Company or disclosed in the Company–s published material. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties and actual results may vary materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statement. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements in this announcement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this announcement, unless required by law.
Canada
Suite 1170, 700-4th Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Telephone: +1-403-264-8877
Facsimile: +1-403-264-8861
Dubai
Al Shafar Investment Building, Suite 123, Shaikh Zayed Road,
Box 37174, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Telephone: +971-4-339-5212
Facsimile: +971-4-339-5174
Poland
Nowogrodzka 18/29
00-511 Warsaw, Poland
Telephone: +48 (22) 414 21 00
Facsimile: +48 (22) 412 48 60
Contacts:
Kulczyk Oil Ventures Inc. – Canada
Norman W. Holton
Vice Chairman
+1-403-264-8877
Kulczyk Oil Ventures Inc. – Poland
Jakub J. Korczak
Vice President Investor Relations & Managing Director CEE
+48 22 414 21 00