Beach Energy Limited (ASX:BPT) Expands Presence In Egypt Oil Exploration

Adelaide, Aug 4, 2010 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Beach Energy Limited (ASX:BPT) (PINK:BEPTF) has executed Sale and Purchase agreements which will, subject to Egyptian regulatory authority approval and endorsement, give it exposure to new oil exploration opportunities in two highly prospective Egyptian onshore concessions.

Beach will gain a 22% stake in the Abu Sennan Concession in the Western Desert and a 15% interest in the Mesaha Area Concession in southern Egypt at a cost (subject to firm and contingent work programmes) of up to US$33 million over the next two years. The deal is to be effective from January 1, 2010.

The new concessions, which include an undeveloped oil discovery, add to Beach's existing North Shadwan and South East July concessions in Egypt. First production from the NS-377 oil field in the North Shadwan concession is expected during the second half of 2010.

3D seismic technology has substantially reduced the exploration risk in the Western Desert in Egypt in recent years with significant exploration success recorded.

The Abu Sennan concession (300km west of Cairo) covers approximately 1600 km2. 3D seismic has recently been acquired over the entire permit. The block contains many attractive oil prospects with at least four to be drilled in the 2011 financial year. Each of these prospects has multiple target reservoirs. Concurrently with this drilling, the Operator will work with the Egyptian regulatory authorities to get approval for a further ten wells.

Appraisal drilling of the GPZZ discovery to establish reserve size is expected in the current quarter. Deeper targets, with highly productive reservoirs with the potential to add tens of millions of barrels of oil equivalent to field reserves, have been successfully drilled in neighbouring concessions.

The Mesaha concession lies in southern Egypt on the Sudanese border and covers approximately 57,000km2. A regional 2D seismic program is currently being acquired. The part of the Mesaha Graben which is located in the Mesaha concession is larger than the Gulf of Suez.

Following completion of the acquisitions, subject to waiver of pre-emption rights by joint venture parties and approvals by the Egyptian regulatory authorities, participants in the tenements will be:

Abu Sennan------------------------------------------Company                             Equity------------------------------------------Beach Petroleum (Egypt) Pty Ltd      22%Kuwait Energy Egypt Ltd (Op)         50%Dover Investments Limited            28%------------------------------------------Mesaha------------------------------------------Company                             Equity------------------------------------------Beach Petroleum (Egypt) Pty Ltd      15%KEC (Egypt) Limited                  15%Melrose Egypt Mesaha Limited (Op)    40%Hellenic Petroleum SA - ATH:ELPE     30%------------------------------------------

Beach in Egypt

In 2008, Beach acquired a 20 percent interest in each of the North Shadwan and South East July concessions, in the Gulf of Suez, Egypt.

North Shadwan (Beach 20%)

First production from the NS-377 oil field is expected during the second half of 2010. Partial relinquishment of the permit (25%) is due in early August and no drilling commitment is required to enter into the next phase of the concession.

The North Shadwan concession is operated by BP Exploration (Delta) Limited and contains further existing undeveloped oil discoveries and several attractive exploration prospects. Government approval has been granted to develop two of these fields (NS-377 and NS-385) which were discovered during the mid-1980's and are located nearshore.

The South East July concession contains several attractive oil prospects, the South July prospect being the first of these to be evaluated. Reprocessing of seismic data is underway. Opportunities for future drilling will be assessed after receipt of results.

Beach Strategy

The new acquisitions in Egypt follow the recent acquisition of highly prospective exploration acreage in Tanzania.

Beach has been actively expanding its exploration acreage portfolio in highly prospective international regions, as well as investing in new and emerging technologies to give it exposure to new energy industry plays as they evolve.

These include recent investments in shale oil and gas opportunities in the USA and Australia, geothermal energy in Australia and potential oil from algae technology in Australia.

In Tanzania, Beach is seeking world scale oil fields along East Africa's Great Rift Valley after signing a Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) with the government of the United Republic of Tanzania for a 100% interest in the Lake Tanganyika South concession.

The concession is considered highly prospective for oil and Beach's exploration program will target plays similar to those to the north in Uganda, where recent exploration by UK's Tullow Oil plc and Heritage Oil plc has proved extremely successful.

Contact

Corporate Reg Nelson / Hector Gordon Beach Energy Limited Tel: +61-8-8338-2833 www.beachenergy.com Investor Relations Steve Masters / Nicola Frazer Beach Energy Limited Tel: +61-8-8338-2833 www.beachenergy.com