Central Petroleum Limited Relinquishment of Geothermal Exploration Permits

14:19 AEST May 28, 2012 ABN Newswire (C) 2004-2012 Asia Business News PL. All Rights Reserved.

Perth, Australia (ABN Newswire) - Central Petroleum Limited (ASX:CTP) wishes to advise that it has received formal notification confirming the relinquishment of its geothermal exploration permits. The Board's decision to relinquish these non-core assets was a result of the Company's ongoing asset portfolio review.

The three geothermal exploration permits were considered to be non-core relative to Central's other conventional and unconventional acreage holdings, particularly in light of the recent conventional oil discovery at Surprise in the Amadeus Basin and the near-term financial commitments which will be required to appraise that field.

Heavy expenditure obligations on the geothermal permits of $11 million over four years, including $7 million in the first two years, were determined not to constitute the best use of existing funds.

Acting CEO, Dalton Hallgren said, 'The relinquishment of these non-core holdings allows the Company to focus on the assets that are expected to deliver the best return on investment. From both a financial and management perspective, the expenditure required to advance these geothermal assets was not considered in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders.'

The Company has canvassed expressions of interest for both farmin and acquisition opportunities as an alternative to the relinquishment of the geothermal exploration permits, and received no interest from any party.


About Central Petroleum Limited:

[wp=!"/!]Central Petroleum[/wp] (ASX:CTP) is an ASX listed junior exploration and production company operating what is regarded as the biggest package of prospective acreage in Australia.



Contact:

Central Petroleum Limited
T: +618-9474-1444
F: +618-9474-1555
WWW: www.centralpetroleum.com.au