Drilling Update

Regal Petroleum PLC
17 December 2004


Immediate Release                                              17 December 2004




                              REGAL PETROLEUM PLC

                                   ('Regal')



                  Drilling Commenced on Suceava Block, Romania





The Directors are pleased to announce that Regal has commenced the drilling of
an appraisal well on the Suceava Block, Romania.



The Suceava Block is one of the largest exploration and development blocks in
Romania with an area of 4,103 square kilometres and is located in the Moldavia
Platform, which contains several large commercial gas and condensate fields. The
Suceava Block is located adjacent to and on the same geological trend as the
largest commercial gas field in Romania, operated by Romgaz (the Romanian
national gas company).



Following the completion of the seismic survey on the Suceava Block Regal has
confirmed three well locations and firmed up other structures for future
drilling to confirm the volume and deliverability of the identified fields.



The first well, SE-1, in the northwest of the Suceava license, has now commenced
drilling and is scheduled to be drilled to its target depth of 2100 metres by
the end of February 2004. The well is being drilled under a turnkey contract
with a budget of $1.75 million.



The well will intersect multiple reservoir objectives within the Sarmatian,
Eocene, Cretaceous and Ordovician sandstones.  The Sarmatian reservoirs within
closure at the structure exhibit clear AVO (Amplitude Versus Offset) related
direct hydrocarbon indicators on the newly acquired seismic data.  This AVO
signature is known to predict the presence of a gas field, as proven by recent
successful wells in the same geological area.  Regal considers that the deeper
reservoirs (Eocene, Cretaceous and Ordovician) may contain condensate or light
oil, sourced from mature, Silurian age, oil prone source rocks to the west of
the field. All target intervals will be cored, logged with complete logging
suites, and flow tested.



Planning of the 2005 Suceava drilling programme will follow the results of the
SE-1 well.






Commenting on the commencement of the drilling programme in Romania, Frank
Timis, Executive Chairman, said:





'Following an extensive seismic program and detailed interpretation and analysis
carried out in Romania over the past year, we have started to drill what we
believe is one of the largest and most prospective structures in the Suceava
Block, which has widespread evidence of hydrocarbons.  Being the largest
non-Romanian oil and gas company by acreage in Romania, the commencement of
drilling is indicative of Regal's significant commitment to the petroleum
industry in Romania and we look forward to announcing the results of the first
well in February next year.'



For further information, please contact:


Regal                                                       Tel: [phone]

Frank Timis, Executive Chairman
Roger Phillips, Finance Director

Buchanan Communications                                     Tel: [phone]
Bobby Morse/Ben Willey






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