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NOK 900 mln loan underpins 2007-08 exploration programme


WEBWIRE

STAVANGER, 11th January 2007 – Revus Energy (OSE: REVUS) has signed a Term Sheet with DnB NOR for a NOK 900 million Exploration Loan facility. The facility shall bridge the gap between incurring exploration expenses and receiving the state tax refund related to such expenditure.

“Revus is embarking on an extensive exploration programme estimated at NOK 1.2 billion over the coming two years. To support this unprecedented level of activity for a company of its size, we are very pleased to announce this agreement with DnB NOR. This facility will give us the right to efficiently fund a major portion of the exploration expenditure with debt as the exploration programme develops”, says Harald Vabø, CEO of Revus Energy.

Revus’s exploration programme consists of 12-16 wells over the coming two years, with seven to eight wells planned for 2007. The drilling rig Bredford Dolphin contracted by a consortium of Revus and six other oil companies will play an important role in this exploration programme and is due to start drilling the Lie prospect in production license 305 later in this quarter.
This exploration programme planned for 2007 and 2008 is expected to find 110 million barrels of oil equivalents in new reserves on a risked basis. In terms of value, Revus expects to spend approximately NOK 10 per share with the potential to create NOK 80 per share in risked value.

In 2005 the Norwegian State implemented a new incentive to increase exploration activity on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The tax value of exploration costs will be refunded in cash, though limited to the annual income tax loss in the company. The cash refund will be paid to the companies after the Oil Taxation Office has made its tax assessment for the preceding tax year, normally in December. Revus has been looking to bridge the gap between incurring exploration expenses and receiving such tax refunds with bank financing. With security in such tax refunds banks are now in a position to fund exploration activities through this new type of debt. A change in the Petroleum Tax Act, with effect from January 1, 2007, allows pledge in the tax refund, though a refinement to the law change, now being considered, is needed to give lenders perfected security.
The facility will give Revus the right to fund a major portion of the exploration expenditure with relatively inexpensive debt. With perfected security in the state tax refund in place the costs of this loan will be cheaper than traditional bank debt and much cheaper than debt raised in bond markets. The exploration loan for an individual tax year will then be repaid with cash proceeds from the tax refund received in the following year. Having signed the Term Sheet, the facility is conditioned upon a final Loan Agreement between DnB NOR and Revus. The Loan Agreement will include pledges in the tax refund, as well as covenants customary to facilities of similar nature.

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Downloadable photo material at www.revus.no or order from: mia.mackay@revus.no

About Revus:
Revus Energy is an independent Norwegian upstream E&P company listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The company’s business concept is to find opportunities for growth in the mature areas of the Norwegian continental shelf, through a portfolio of fields in production, discovery and exploration projects. Revus places great emphasis on building a highly qualified organisation and forming close relationships with partners. Revus has 32 permanent employees and a number of collaboration partners. For more information about Revus Energy, see www.revus.no



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