Iona Energy Inc. Announces Operational Update

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN UNITED STATES

CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired - Jan. 28, 2014) - Iona Energy Inc. ("Iona" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:INA) is pleased to announce an operational update related to its Huntington Oil Field located in the UK North Sea.

During Q4 2013, Iona produced on average 3,280 boepd as Huntington ramp-up continued to increase following the previously announced curtailment of production by the operator of the Central Area Transmission System from mid-September to late November 2013. Following a period of inclement weather in December, Huntington returned to plateau production levels and was producing in excess of 34,500 boepd (6,100 boepd net to Iona) at year end. The Huntington reservoir and FPSO continued to perform well, with Q4 2013 system availability of 94%. January has seen peak production above 35,450 boepd (6,220 boepd net to Iona) with average production net to Iona of approximately 4,100 boepd to January 15th, 2014. Production was restricted from January 15th due to the FPSO storage tanks being full and extreme weather preventing the shuttle tanker connecting for offloading. The 16th cargo from Huntington has now been off-loaded and as of January 28th production has resumed.

Huntington has now passed the milestone of producing 3 million barrels of oil with Iona's net share of production being more than 0.5 million barrels of oil and 0.3 bcf of gas. Average realized oil prices remain at a premium to Brent and recent realized gas prices have averaged USD10.50/mcf.

The working interests in the Huntington field are E.ON E&P UK Ltd (25% Operator), Premier Oil plc (40%), Noreco Oil (UK) Limited (20%), and Iona (15%). In addition to the working interest, Iona holds a gross overriding royalty of 2.55% of the total Huntington production, payable from the Huntington Joint Venture Partners.

Additional information relating to the Company is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.


About Iona Energy:

Iona is an oil and gas exploration, development and production company focused on oil and gas development and exploration in the United Kingdom's North Sea.


Notes Regarding Oil and Gas Disclosure

As used in this press release, "boe" means barrel of oil equivalent on the basis of 6 mcf of natural gas to 1 bbl of oil. Boes may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A boe conversion ratio of 6 mcf: 1 bbl is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead.

Additionally, this press release uses certain abbreviations as follows:

Oil and Natural Gas Liquids Natural Gas
boepd barrels of oil equivalent per day mcf thousand cubic feet
bcf billion cubic feet


Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.



CONTACT INFORMATION

Iona Energy Inc.
Neill A. Carson, Chief Executive Officer
+44 1224 228400

Graham A. Heath, Interim Chief Financial Officer
+44 7508 936982

David Ricciardi, Manager, Investor Relations
+1 403 978 4894