The Board of Venture Production notes the announcement by Centrica of an unsolicited final offer for Venture of 845p per ordinary share. Following a Board meeting, and having consulted its financial advisers, the Board has unanimously concluded the offer is not in the best interests of shareholders and should be rejected by shareholders.

The Board has concluded that Centrica’s offer substantially undervalues Venture given its near and long term prospects and the strategic position and high quality of its UK gas reserves and resources:

Venture: • is the leading independent gas producer in the North Sea • has a large portfolio of assets with material upside potential • has a sustained track record of delivering growth and value • has the operational and technical expertise needed to exploit the North Sea opportunity set • has the financial strength needed to exploit both existing portfolio and strategic opportunities

Leading independent gas producer in the North Sea Venture is the leading independent gas producer in the North Sea and the ninth largest holder of UK North Sea gas reserves. Venture is forecast to be the tenth largest gas producer in the UK North Sea in 2009 and the only company within the top 10 whose production is forecast to rise over the next three years. In the southern North Sea, Venture has proved and probable gas reserves of approximately 1.1 Tcfe (approximately 180 MMboe) with substantial additional potential resources totalling approximately 2.7 Tcfe (approximately 450 MMboe) on an unrisked basis.

Venture’s gas reserves are: • Strategically located close to the UK market, the third largest OECD natural gas market and one which is increasingly dependent on imports. As overall North Sea production continues to decline, Venture’s growing gas reserves are expected to become more strategic due to their low political risk and security of energy supply considerations. • Largely uncontracted, enabling Venture to capture further value from the UK’s increasing reliance on gas imports and the anticipated strengthening of energy prices as reflected in forward markets. • Geographically well positioned to supply the Continental European gas markets as well as the UK.

Venture has a large and diversified asset base that has material current production, a broad portfolio of development projects and an exciting spread of exploration acreage. It has interests in 92 UK and Dutch North Sea licence blocks containing 48 proven oil and gas fields of which only 21 are in production today. A substantial proportion of Venture’s reserves are in undeveloped fields, including large equity positions in a number of the UK North Sea’s largest undeveloped gas fields. Venture is the largest net holder of UKCS exploration acreage and was the largest recipient of 25th UK Licensing Round awards in 2008. This broad exploration portfolio positions Venture to continue delivering strong organic growth in the medium term. Venture has an exciting exploration and appraisal drilling programme of 12 wells over the next 12 months, targeting 264 MMboe1 of net unrisked reserves.

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