Chaco Resources CHP (Moderated thread)

MORE GOOD NEWS

RNS Number:6681O
Chaco Resources PLC
27 December 2006





27 December 2006

(AIM:CHP)

CHACO RESOURCES PLC

("Chaco" or "the Company")

SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION OF NEGOTIATIONS WITH ANH

-AMALGAMATION OF YEARS 1&2 OF PLATANILLO E&P CONTRACT

Chaco Resources, the oil and gas explorer in Paraguay and Colombia announces
that Ecopetrol, the Operator of the Platanillo Block in Colombia has obtained
approval from the ANH to amalgamate Years 1 & 2 of the Platanillo E&P contract.
This amalgamation was sought due to new environmental regulations in Colombia
which had caused delays in environmental licencing for the access road and drill
site which would have resulted in the Operator not being able to complete the
Year 1 work obligation by the anniversary date of January 10th, 2007. The
amalgamation of Years 1 & 2 now requires that the re-entry of Alea 1, the
drilling of Platanillo 1 appraisal well and the drilling of a second appraisal
well need to be finished before the end of the second permit year on Jan 10th,
2008.


Technical Director Graeme Stephens said today "This ruling is good news for the
joint venture as it will now allow the Operator, Ecopetrol, to plan and
implement a logical operations programme that accommodates the recently imposed
environmental requirements for site access, without having to resort to the very
expensive helicopter supported operation which would otherwise have been
needed to try to meet the timing deadline. Early Joint Venture meetings are
planned to review the Operator's new timetable for the re-entry of Alea 1, the
drilling of Platanillo 1 and the drilling of an additional appraisal well, and
details will be released as soon as this timetable is finalised."


Competent person: Technical information in this announcement has been supplied
or verified by Graeme Stephens, the Company's Technical Director. Mr Stephens is
a qualified geologist and has been a member of the American Association of
Petroleum Geologists since 1970.


For further information contact:

Nicola Brookes, Finance Director
Chaco Resources plc
Tel: 01494 431195