EastSiberian Plc (TSXV: ESB) Announces the Lifting of the Trading Halt of ESB Shares on TSX Venture Exchange with the Completion

EastSiberian Plc (TSXV: ESB) Announces the Lifting of the Trading Halt of ESB Shares on TSX Venture Exchange with the Completion of the NI 51-101 Reserve Report and License Title Opinions

ST. HELIER, Jersey, Feb. 11, 2013 /CNW/ - EastSiberian Plc ("EastSiberian " or the "Corporation"), an international junior oil exploration company incorporated in the Bailiwick of Jersey, is pleased to announce that the NI51-101 Reserve Report (the "Reserve Report") on the licences within the previously announced Farm-in Agreement with East Siberian Resources Ltd. ("ESR") has been completed by DeGolyer & MacNaughton and submitted to the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"). Title opinions (the "Opinions") on these licences have also been completed and submitted to the TSXV. It is anticipated that trading in the Corporation's stock will resume on or about February 12, 2013, as the TSXV has accepted the reserve report as part of the required documentation. Resumption of trading of the Company's stock does not guarantee the transaction will be completed or accepted by the TSXV.

Farm-in Agreement

The Farm-in Agreement between EastSiberian and ESR was announced on June 27, 2012. The Farm-in Agreement provides that the Corporation may earn up to a 51% equity stake in two wholly-owned Cyprus subsidiaries of ESR, Elranio Holdings Ltd. ("Elranio") and Lesona Holdings Ltd. ("Lesona" and Elranio and Lesona collectively, the "Holding Companies").  Elranio indirectly holds, through CJSC Pacific Oil Resources ("Pacific Oil"), a Russian entity, a 100% interest in an exploration and production license located on the eastern onshore portion of the Sakhalin Island. Lesona indirectly holds, through LLC Mezhregionalnaya Toplivnaya Kompaniya ("MTK"), a Russian entity, one oil production licence and one exploration and production licence located in Eastern Siberia.  ESR is owned 100% by the Alltech Group ("Alltech" www.alltech.ru) of the Russian Federation, a private direct investment company.

The Corporation is pursuing a fund raising for approximately USD$50 million to fully fund the work program contemplated by the Farm-in Agreement (the "Work Program") and for general corporate purposes.  The fund raise is being pursued by a brokered private placement of common shares of the Corporation (the "EastSiberian Shares") at a market determined price (the "Private Placement"). The original Farm-in Agreement terms requires that an initial fund raise of at least USD$15 million was raised by December 31, 2012. On January 28, 2013, the Corporation announced that it and ESR had signed an Addendum to the Farm-in Agreement extending the Initial Fund Raise deadline to March 31, 2013 under the same terms and conditions as originally agreed..

The farm-in for 51% of the Elranio shares is based upon the funding of the following potentially staged earn-in work programs to be performed in relation to the Prizalivnaya Licence held by Elranio:

1. a 20% shareholding in Elranio will be earned following a US$15MM

     investment by the Corporation in Elranio for drilling the first
     development well. This development well will be drilled to the
     target reservoir zone of interest and tested, to a minimum depth
     of 4,000 metres;

  2. a 20% shareholding in Elranio will be earned following an
     additional US$10MM investment by the Corporation in Elranio for
     drilling of the second development or delineation well. This
     second development or delineation well will be drilled to the same
     reservoir zone of interest and tested, to a minimum depth of 4,000
     metres; and

  3. an 11% shareholding in Elranio will be earned following an
     additional US$5MM investment by the Corporation in Elranio for
     shooting 200 km of 2D seismic or an equivalent agreed upon 3D
     seismic program.

The farm-in for 51% of the Lesona shares is based upon the following 
potentially staged earn-in funding for work program performed in relation to 
the Verkhnepitskaya Licence and Borschevskaya Licences held by Lesona:

  1. a 26% shareholding in Lesona will be earned following a US$10MM
     investment by the Corporation in Lesona for drilling the first
     delineation well (1P) on the Borschevskaya Licence. This well will
     be drilled updip from the oil water contact in the reservoir zone
     of interest and tested, to a minimum depth of 2,700 metres ;

  2. a 25% shareholding in Lesona will be earned following an
     additional US$10MM investment by the Corporation in Lesona for
     shooting 300 km of 2D seismic on the Borschevskaya Licence; and 
     shooting 700 km of 2D seismic on the Verkhnepitskaya Licence.

The earn-in period as defined in the Farm-in Agreement is three (3) years 
after the date that the Initial Fund Raise closes. The Initial Fund Raise 
proceeds will be used to drill the first development well on the Prizalivnaya 
Licence and for general corporate purposes.

Reserve Report

The Reserve Report completed by DeGolyer & MacNaughton is as of August 31, 
2012 and contains the evaluation of the hydrocarbon potential including two 
fields within two of the three licence areas defined in the Farm-in Agreement. 
These licences are the Prizalivnaya Licence located on Sakhalin Island and the 
Borschevskaya Licence located in East Siberia. DeGolyer & MacNaughton are 
independent of the issuer and vendor East Siberian Resources Ltd. and the 
reserve estimates are in accordance with NI 51-101 and the COGE Handbook 
reserve definitions. Possible reserves are those additional reserves that are 
less certain to be recovered than probable reserves. There is a 50 % 
probability that the quantities actually recovered will equal or exceed the 
sum of proven plus probable reserves and a 10% probability that the quantities 
actually recovered will equal or exceed the sum of proved plus probable plus 
possible reserves.

Mezhdurechenskoye Field

The Mezhdurechenskoye field was discovered in 1990 and is located within the 
Prizalivnaya Licence Area on the south shoreline of Nabil Bay, close to giant 
offshore Lunskoye field, operated by Sakhalin II (Gazprom). It is 35km south 
of the town of Nogliki. Alltech acquired the licence for exploration and 
production within the Prizalivnaya License Area at auction in April 2008, and 
the license is not due to expire until 1 April 2033. Two wells, M-1S and M-3, 
have penetrated the P3dh oil reservoir to date and are structurally low in the 
closure.

Sakhalin Island is part of the north western Pacific rim, adjacent to the 
south eastern most coast of mainland Russia, directly north of Japan's 
Hokkaido Island, and between the Sea of Okhotsk and the Tatar Strait. The 
North Sakhalin Basin geologic province includes much of the northern half of 
the island plus north western and north eastern offshore areas. The 84,000km2 
province area is 72% offshore and 28% onshore.

The producing hydrocarbon reservoirs are the fractured reservoirs of the Lower 
Miocene and Upper Oligocene Dayekhurinskaya and Lower Uyininskayaya 
Formations, analogous to the Okruzhnoye reservoirs elsewhere in the basin.

The North Sakhalin Basin Province has 32 onshore gas fields, 29 onshore oil 
fields, five offshore gas fields, and two offshore oil fields. Another two gas 
fields and three oil fields straddle the coastline. Offshore fields are larger 
both in closure areas and in petroleum volumes than fields onshore. Onshore 
seeps are common along the trends of the major north-south faults, and 
production occurs to depths exceeding 4,000m. Producible hydrocarbons or 
hydrocarbon shows are in more than 30 stratigraphic zones of Tertiary 
sandstones and fractured siliceous shales, and in pre-Tertiary serpentinites 
that are unconformably juxtaposed with Tertiary source rocks.

The Reserve Report concludes that the Mezhdurechenskoye field contains a mean 
estimate proved undeveloped reserves of 1.716 million barrels of oil, probable 
reserves of 47.746 million barrels of oil, and possible reserves of 68.324 
million barrels of oil.

Borschevskoye Field

The Borschevskoye field lies within the Baykit High province, located in the 
southwestern part of the East Siberian craton, which also includes the Katanga 
structural saddle to the east. The saddle connects the Baykit and Nepa-Botuoba 
highs. The area of the province is approximately 220,000km(2). The Baykit High 
is bounded by the Yenisey Ridge foldbelt to the west, the Cis-Sayan basin to 
the south, and the Tunguska basin to the north.

Uplift, fracturing, and weathering of Riphaen platform dolomites, followed by 
the unconformable deposition of sealing Vendian and Cambrian sediments, has 
produced major productive reservoirs in the nearby Yurubcheno-Tokhomskoye and 
Kuyumbinskoye fields. The overlying Vendian sediments include shales and 
sandstones of the Vanavarskaya formation, followed by porous dolomites, 
anhydrites, sandstones, and shales of the Oskobinskaya Formation 
(Borschevskoye reservoir). Pinchouts of sandstones and dolomite reservoirs 
toward the top of the Kamov Arch provide stratigraphic traps within the 
Vendian. Capping this sequence, Cambrian salt and carbonates provide a seal 
for the regional petroleum system.

For the Borschevskoye field, the Reserve Report concludes that this field 
contains a mean estimate probable reserves of 37.118 million barrels of oil, 
and possible reserves of 27.056 million barrels of oil.

Estimated Present Worth

The Reserve Report estimated the mean present worth of future net revenues at 
US$314.9 million at a 10% discount rate, at 100% interest to ESR. This 
estimate is based on Proved plus Probable reserves for both fields using 
forecast pricing and after income tax.

The mean present worth was calculated assuming that 100% of oil production was 
exported and the forecast netback price at each field was net of the export 
tax imposed by the Russian federation on oil exported out of the country and 
the Mineral Extraction Tax.

The netback price for the Mezhdurechenskoye field ranged from USD$419.09 per 
metric ton (MT) (USD$57.33 per barrel) to USD$359.36/MT (USD$49.29 per 
barrel).  This price range reflects the close proximity of the field to 
tidewater and developed export capacity on Sakhalin Island.

The netback price for the Borschevskoye field ranged from USD$354.06/MT 
(USD$48.57 per barrel) to USD$296.28/MT (USD$40.64 per barrel). This price 
range reflects the more remote area of East Siberia and the higher 
transportation costs to ship the oil to export markets.

The estimated undiscounted future gross revenues from developing the mean 
estimated reserves (proved undeveloped plus probable) of the fields is 
USD$3.774 billion. The estimated undiscounted total capital expenditures to 
fully develop the mean estimated reserves (proved undeveloped plus probable) 
of both fields is USD$787.9 million. The undiscounted future net revenue from 
developing the mean estimated reserves (proved undeveloped plus probable) of 
the fields is USD$1.049 billion. The estimated values disclosed do not 
represent fair market value.

Title Opinions

The Corporation has also received legal title opinions on all three licences 
within the Farm-in Agreement. These Opinions determined that these licences 
are all lawfully owned by ESR through its subsidiary corporations in Cyprus 
and Russia.

The Reserve Report will be available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Forward looking Statements or Information

Certain statements included in this news release constitute forward-looking 
statements or forward-looking information under applicable securities 
legislation. Such forward-looking statements or information are provided for 
the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations 
and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such 
information may not be appropriate for other purposes, such as making 
investment decisions. Forward-looking statements or information typically 
contain statements with words such as "anticipate", "believe", "expect", 
"plan", "intend", "estimate", "propose", "project" or similar words suggesting 
future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. Forward-looking statements 
or information concerning EastSiberian in this news release may include, but 
are not limited to statements or information with respect to: business 
strategy and objectives; development, exploration, acquisition and disposition 
plans, and the timing and results thereof. Forward-looking statements or 
information are based on a number of factors and assumptions which have been 
used to develop such statements and information but which may prove to be 
incorrect. Although EastSiberian believes that the expectations reflected in 
such forward-looking statements or information are reasonable, undue reliance 
should not be placed on such statements because EastSiberian can give no 
assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. In addition to 
other factors and assumptions which may be identified in this news release, 
assumptions have been made regarding, among other things: the timely receipt 
of any required regulatory and shareholder approvals; the ability of 
EastSiberian to obtain qualified staff, equipment and services in a timely and 
cost efficient manner; and the ability of EastSiberian to obtain financing on 
acceptable terms. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not 
exhaustive of all factors and assumptions which have been used.

Forward-looking statements or information are based on current expectations, 
estimates and projections that involve a number of risks and uncertainties 
which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated 
by EastSiberian and described in the forward-looking statements or 
information. These risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to differ 
materially from the forward-looking statements or information.

The forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release 
are made as of the date hereof and EastSiberian undertakes no obligation to 
update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, 
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless 
required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements or 
information contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this 
cautionary statement.

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

EastSiberian Plc 

Maxim Sidorin CEO 9 Esplanade St. Helier, Jersey Tel: +7-929-222-1011 
Email: msidorin@eastsiberianplc.com

Graeme Phipps President 9 Esplanade St. Helier, Jersey, Tel: +44 7733 363 016 
or +1 403 630 2367 Email: gphipps@eastsiberianplc.com

Calvin Brackman Vice President, Corporate Planning c/o 1000, 505 - 3rd Street 
S.W. Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2P 3E6 Tel: +1 403 984 5132 Cell: +1 403 690 
6230 Email: cbrackman@eastsiberianplc.com

For further information in respect of the Corporation, please visit the  
Corporation's website at: www.eastsiberianplc.com

SOURCE: EastSiberian Plc

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CO: EastSiberian Plc
NI: OIL ORDER FIN 

-0- Feb/11/2013 17:30 GMT