Regal Petroleum announced that Apache East Ras Budran Corp. LDC (“Apache”) as operator of the East Ras Budran Concession in Egypt has spudded exploration well ERB-A-1X.

Regal owns a 25% working interest in the Concession which covers an area of 521 square kilometres onshore in the Gulf of Suez. The ERB-A-1X well is one of two wells to be drilled in 2007 as part of the first phase exploration work programme agreed with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation for the Concession.

Since Regal farmed out a 75% working interest and operatorship in the Concession to Apache in October 2006, Apache has completed the acquisition of a large aeromagnetic survey and a 3D seismic survey covering approximately 100 square kilometres of the Concession. The selection of the location for the second exploration well, ERB-B-1X, is presently under consideration using existing data and the results of both the 3D seismic and aeromagnetic surveys and is expected to be drilled back-to-back with the present well.

Well ERB-A-1X, which is planned to take 80 days to complete, is targeted to penetrate prospective reservoirs in the Thebes Limestone and will be drilled to a target depth of 13,622 feet.