Appointment of Chairman

Gulfsands Petroleum PLC
15 November 2005

15 November 2005



Gulfsands Petroleum PLC

('Gulfsands' or 'the Group')





Gulfsands Appoints John Bolsover as Non-Executive Chairman





Gulfsands Petroleum PLC (symbol GPX), the AIM listed oil and gas exploration,
development and production company with activities in the USA, Syria and Iraq,
is pleased to report that the Company has appointed Mr. John Bolsover as a new
non-executive director and Chairman of the Board.



Non-Executive Chairman



Effective today, John Bolsover was appointed as non-executive Chairman of the
Board.  Mr. Bolsover is a resident of the U.K. and brings a high level of
experience from his career as CEO of Baring Asset Management Limited, from which
he retired in June 2002 aged 55.  This appointment will allow John Dorrier,
Chief Executive Officer, to concentrate his efforts on developing the business
of the Company.



John Bolsover was born and educated in the U.K. and obtained his economics and
political science degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.  Between
1971 and 1985, he lived and worked in Hong Kong, specializing as a portfolio
manager of Japanese and other Asian equities.  He established the business of
Baring Asset Management Limited in Asia and North America as its Chief Executive
in 1975 and having returned to London in 1985, became Chief Executive of the
combined domestic and international businesses in 1989.  John recently retired
as a director of Euromoney Institutional Investor plc and is currently the
non-executive Chairman of the Japan Opportunities Fund Limited, a real estate
fund.  Mr. Bolsover is also a director of Argus Fund SICAV, Gavekal Asian
Balanced Fund, 40 Hyde Park Gate Management Limited and Silver Heritage Limited.
  During the last five years Mr. Bolsover also served as a director of Aureo
Gestioni SGRpA, Baring Asset Management (Japan) Limited, Baring Asset Management
Holdings Limited, Baring Asset Management Limited, Baring International
Investment Limited, Barings (Guernsey) Limited, Japan Opportunities Fund 11
Limited and Worldsport International Limited.



There is no further information required to be disclosed in respect of the above
appointment pursuant to schedule 2 rule (g) (i) to (viii) of the AIM rules for
companies.



John Dorrier, CEO of Gulfsands Petroleum, said:



'The Company is very pleased to welcome John Bolsover to the Board.  His
experience and counsel bring a new and valuable dimension to decision-making at
the Board level for the Company. '















Enquiries:
Gulfsands Petroleum (Houston)                                 001-713-626-9564
David DeCort, Chief Financial Officer

College Hill (London)                                            020-7457-2020
Ben Brewerton / Nick Elwes

Seymour Pierce (London)                                          020-7107-8000
Richard Redmayne
Jonathan Wright







Note to Editors



•         Gulf of Mexico, USA

The Group has a 52.6% interest in Northstar Gulfsands LLC, which owns interests
in 39 producing oil and gas fields offshore Texas and Louisiana and operates 8
of those fields. Northstar Gulfsands LLC has proved and probable reserves of
58.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalents, consisting of 28.85 billion
cubic feet of natural gas and 4.88 million barrels of oil as of 30 June 2005.



•         Syria

In Syria, Gulfsands owns a 50% working interest in Block 26 and is the operator.
The block covers 11,000 square kilometres and surrounds areas which currently
produce over 100,000 barrels of oil per day from existing fields.  The Group
commenced the acquisition of an extensive 2D seismic programme during August
2005 and anticipates the drilling of the first well during the first half of
2006. Gulfsands has identified 31 exploitation and exploration prospects and
leads with mean resources potential exceeding 1 billion barrels of recoverable
oil.



•         Iraq

Gulfsands signed a Memorandum of Understanding in January 2005 with the Ministry
of Oil in Iraq for the Misan Gas Project in Southern Iraq and is currently
negotiating the definitive contract for the project.  The project will gather,
process and transmit natural gas that is currently a waste by-product of oil
production in the region and will end the environmentally damaging practice of
gas flaring. Gulfsands has completed a feasibility study and expects to conduct
further technical work and commercial discussions with the Iraq Oil Ministry.



•         Onshore USA

Gulfsands operates onshore in the USA through its 80% owned subsidiary company
Darcy Energy LLC.  At the Emily Hawes field, initial gas production commenced in
the summer of 2005.  The first well in the Barb Mag oil field has been drilled
and wireline logged with some 38 feet of potential net pay and production tested
at 1.5 million cubic feet of natural gas and 36 barrels of condensate per day.
Production from this well should commence during the first quarter of 2006.
Darcy Energy has a 34.375% and 37.5% working interest in these fields
respectively.


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