marquis/block21/6b details, page-2

regal petroleum shambles ... DynoFish , thanks for the post. FYI - heres the Regal 'shambles' ... shades of BAS eh ? SALTY


Regal Petroleum reports that Christopher Green has resigned from the Board of Directors.

Green is leaving his post at a time when Regal is facing shareholder fury over the disappointing drilling results at its Kallirachi-2 well in Greece.

Regal announced on Wednesday that the well, which sits on a field that it claimed to hold reserves of 1 bln barrels, contained only "non-commercial" Related Products

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quantities of oil.

That sent the company's share price plunging by 60 pct on that day, leaving investors with paper losses of about 200 mln stg.

Regal said Green, a veteran in the oil and gas industry, is leaving because he felt that he was "unable to dedicate the time required of an executive member of the board."

Green, 56, joined the board at Regal on May 1. He is a qualified geophysicist with over 32 years of experience in the industry, including 24 years at the Royal Dutch/Shell Group where he held various senior roles until he left in 1998.

The Kallirachi-2 drilling results forced Regal to re-think its plans for the field, its biggest discovery to date.

"It involves a hell of a lot of work. A lot more drilling will be needed. Professor Green must have thought that he won't have the energy and the time to fulfil his role," a spokesman at Regal said.

Rex Gaisford, who was appointed head of production at the same time as Green took on his role, has "confirmed his commitment" to stay on, said Regal.

Drilling work on the field will be suspended while it assesses the latest drilling results, with the help of independent consultants GEUS and Odegaard.

The two holes it planned previously -- Kallirachi 3 and 4 -- will be spudded next year.

"We still plan further drilling, but not in the next six to nine months," said the spokesman.

The rapid rise in drilling costs, due mainly to soaring crude prices, is also a factor in determining the timing on further work on Kallirachi.

Regal spent about 30 mln usd on the second well, six times more than the budget for the first well, which it spudded early last year and which flowed at about 3,000 barrels per day.

In the meantime, it will focus on efforts to boost output at the oil producing portion of the field, the spokesman added.

Regal had originally budgeted about 12 mln stg for its drilling project in Greece, out of its 40 mln stg cash reserve.

The rest is earmarked for its drilling activities in Romania.

Regal has no plans to sack GEUS and Odegaard, nor to change its reserves estimates for the field as a whole, said the spokesman.

Kallirachi is believed to be capable of producing about 100,000 barrels per day, way ahead of Regal's current production of about 4,500 barrels.

The massive fall in Regal's share price has reportedly prompted an inquiry by the London Stock Exchange and the Financial Services Authority.

Regal, however, insisted that it has not been contacted the LSE or the FSA as yet.

At 3.34 pm, shares in Regal Petroleum were down 5-1/2 at 79 pence.