Ascent Resources plc, through its 90% owned Hungarian company PetroHungaria kft, has signed a Joint Development and Joint Operating Agreement with Hungarian company MOL, for the redevelopment of the Bajcsa Gasfield in south western Hungary. The redevelopment project is designed to recover additional gas reserves through the horizontal recompletion of existing wells.

The Bajcsa field is 6 kilometres south of Nagykanizsa near the Hungarian Croatian border. It was originally brought on stream in 1961 and has produced from over 20 wells. The field has seven stacked reservoirs with the majority of production coming from two, VII/b and III. Total production to date is circa 470 million cu. m (16.6 Bcf). The horizontal recompletions, to be drilled from the existing vertical wells, are designed to significantly increase production rates and recover gas from un-depleted parts of the reservoirs. It is planned to drill the first two horizontal recompletions towards the end of 2007. Importantly, because the field is already on production, gas from these wells can immediately be delivered to market.

The Joint Venture has already completed extensive reservoir and horizontal well studies and will jointly plan and implement the drilling of the new wells, which will use Rotary rigs already under contract to MOL. Incremental production will be shared between MOL and PetroHungaria.

Ascent's Managing Director Jeremy Eng said, "This project has many important elements; By working in an existing producing field it will provide additional proven reserves to the Group; it has the ability to immediately sell produced gas without having to wait on new development approval and there are other similar opportunities in the surrounding area, not least of which is one of the Ascent operated Slovenian gas project at Petisovci Globocki."