15 March 2007

Appointment of Technical & Operations Manager

Irvine Energy plc, the AIM listed oil and gas exploration company, has appointed Charles Bingle to its management team as Technical and Operations Manager. Mr. Bingle's appointment is part of the Company's strategy of assembling a team with the relevant experience, expertise and contacts to advance the Company's Chattanooga shale gas and conventional oil and gas portfolio in Kansas. The Company has built a strategic acreage position of circa 107,000 acres, which Mr Bingle, who has a wealth of experience in bringing oil and gas assets into production, will assist in developing, initially through the implementation of an extensive seismic programme to be conducted by Metro Energy Group Inc.

Mr. Bingle has 28 years experience in the conventional and unconventional oil and gas arena, having worked primarily as a petroleum engineer. Most recently he was a founding member and engineering manager at Houston based shale gas specialist, Kerogen Resources Inc, where he was responsible for all gas shale basin studies and leasing strategies, performing due diligence for gas determination, flow potential, drainage area, recovery efficiency, stress analysis and completion techniques. He established a strong portfolio of projects including 17,000 acres in the Fayetteville shale and 68,000 acres in the Bakken shale of Williston Basin, North Dakota.

Mr. Bingle was part of the start-up team at PetroSolutions Ltd, a dedicated energy consulting firm aimed at evaluating conventional oil and gas reservoirs globally. As engineering manager he evaluated oil and gas fields for an international blue-chip client base, focusing on increasing production and reserves through the drilling of new wells and improving operations. Much of his work focused on extending field production limits and uncovering by-passed reserves through capillary pressure and production modelling.

Previously, Mr. Bingle has held other engineering positions in oil and gas companies including Frontera Resources, where he was responsible for the evaluation and improvement of production in Azerbaijan and Georgian oil fields. He also worked as a consultant for ResTech Houston, a multi-discipline reservoir evaluation services company, working on many domestic and international projects to increase production through drilling and improved operations. Mr. Bingle was awarded the DeepStar contract in 1999 to evaluate all deepwater Gulf of Mexico projects for a consortium of 20 major and large independent oil companies. This work led to his appointment as President of ResTech Houston. Additionally, he gained vast experience as an oil and gas engineer through working at Schlumberger Well Services and Exxon Company U.S.A. as a reservoir engineer in the 1980’s.

Irvine Energy Chairman Doug Manner said, "We are delighted to welcome Charles to our team. With over 28 years experience in the oil and gas industry he is ideally qualified to support the team in advancing our significant land acreage in Kansas and objective of rapidly developing Irvine Energy into a producing entity."

Additionally the Company is pleased to announce that it is opening a Houston office at 1400 Broadfield Blvd., Suite 325, Houston, TX, USA, 77084, effective from the beginning of April. The new Houston office, which is in the heart of the US oil and gas industry, provides a location for running the day to day operations of the Kansas project. Together the new US office and the appointment of Mr. Bingle provide a foundation for growth of the project and the Company.

For further information please visit www.irvineenergy.com or contact:

Irvine Energy plc
Michael Frayne, Tel: +44 (0) 207 016 9579

Irvine Energy plc
Aaron Close, Tel: +1 281 647 7770

Nabarro Wells & Co Ltd
Hugh Oram, Tel: +44 (0) 207 710 7400

St Brides Media & Finance
Hugo de Salis, Tel: +44 (0) 207 242 4477

St Brides Media & Finance
Felicity Edwards, Tel: +44 (0) 207 242 4477