XTRACT ENERGY : Investment Update

14 January 2009
AIM: XTR

                          XTRACT ENERGY PLC
                     ("Xtract" or the "Company")

                 INVESTMENT UPDATE - ELKO ENERGY INC

Xtract Energy  Plc ("Xtract")  is pleased  to provide  the  following
update on its investment in Elko Energy Inc ("Elko").

Elko yesterday  sent a  message to  its shareholders  confirming  the
appointment of a new President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr  Peter
Moir. Peter will take  up the position  full-time starting on  Monday
January 26, 2009. Peter's  appointment is the latest  in a series  of
Board changes at Elko since December 12, 2008.

The changes to the Board were  the outcome of a process initiated  by
Xtract and  DM  Bray  Capital,  LLC  ("DM  Bray"),  the  two  largest
shareholders of Elko  on November  4, 2008.  These two  shareholders,
representing approximately 48% of the voting interests in Elko called
for the replacement of  the Board with a  new slate of directors.  In
their letter, Xtract  and DM Bray  expressed disappointment with  the
performance of the incumbent Board.

As a result of the changes,  Andy Morrison, CEO of Xtract, remains  a
Director of Elko  and is joined  on the Elko  Board by fellow  Xtract
Director, Mr John Conlon. Andy Morrison  is acting CEO of Elko  until
Peter Moir takes up his duties on January 26, 2009.

Commenting on the changes, Andy Morrison said, 'I would like to thank
the incumbent Board for the professional way in which they  responded
to our  proposal, which  was  aimed at  increasing the  alignment  of
Elko's strategy with the interests  of all shareholders. I also  take
this opportunity to thank  Mr Rudi Kleiber,  founder and former  CEO,
for  his  role  in  establishing  Elko  as  a  promising  independent
operator. With the  new Board now  in place, I  believe that Elko  is
better positioned to advance its attractive asset portfolio and bring
it to market when conditions permit'.

Xtract currently holds approximately 35.2%  of the issued capital  of
Elko.

The full text of the Elko Chairman's message to shareholders is given
below.

"Shareholder Update

I am writing to you as the  new Chairman of Elko Energy Inc.  ("Elko"
or the "Company"), having been appointed to the Board on December 12,
2008 and having  been elected  Chairman at  a Board  meeting held  on
December 16th.

A great  deal has  happened in  the world  since our  Annual  General
Meeting which  was held  in Toronto  on June  20, 2008  -  investment
conditions have deteriorated considerably as a result of the  decline
in oil prices and the tightening of credit.  Whilst the assets of the
Company remain potentially valuable, we will need to be more creative
and  adaptable  in  taking  them  forward  within  more   constrained
financial resources.

I am delighted  to be  able to inform  you that  following a  further
board meeting held on January 9, 2009, Mr. Peter Moir was elected  to
the Board.  Peter  will take  up the  position of  President and  CEO
starting full-time on Monday, January 26th.

Together with  our new  colleagues on  the board,  Peter and  I  look
forward to developing the assets and to bringing Elko to a  liquidity
event as soon as we can.

Recent Board Changes

At  a  Board  meeting  held   on  December  12th  three   independent
non-executive  directors  of  the  Company  resigned  (Messrs.  Denis
Clement, John  Cullen and  Adrian Jackson),  together with  the  CEO,
Rudolf Kleiber.  John  Conlon and  I were appointed  and Jeremy  Kane
agreed to  remain  as an  independent  non-executive director  for  a
temporary period  to  continue  to represent  the  interests  of  the
minority shareholders.  Andy  Morrison,  CEO  of  Xtract  Energy  Plc
("Xtract") also remained on the Board and became Acting CEO,  pending
the appointment of a full-time replacement.

At a  further Board  meeting  held on  January  9th, Peter  Moir  was
appointed as director, President and CEO of the Company.  He will  be
based at our  UK offices and  will commence full  time employment  on
January 26,  2009.  Originally  qualified  as a  Petroleum  Engineer,
Peter has spent his whole career in the upstream energy business. His
recent senior executive positions  include Asset General Manager  for
the Central North Sea area for British Gas (BG Group Plc).  From 2003
until joining Elko,  Peter was  a senior consultant  to the  Kashagan
project to develop a 10 billion barrel oil field in the Caspian Sea.
Peter brings a  combination of technical,  strategic and  operational
experience that  will help  guide  the Company  in the  tough  market
conditions.

The changes to the Board were  the outcome of a process initiated  by
Xtract and  DM  Bray  Capital,  LLC  ("DM  Bray"),  the  two  largest
shareholders  of  the  Company  on   November  4,  2008.  These   two
shareholders, representing approximately 48% of the voting  interests
in the Company  called for the  replacement of the  Board with a  new
slate of directors.  In their  letter, Xtract and  DM Bray  expressed
disappointment with  the  performance  of the  incumbent  Board.  The
incumbent  Board   formed   a  special   committee   of   independent
non-executive  directors  to  evaluate  the  proposal  of  the   then
dissident shareholders. Having gone through due process, the  special
committee  negotiated  and  accepted  the  proposal  and  agreed   to
implement it voluntarily.

Business Update

Through its Danish  subsidiary Elko Energy  A/S the Company  operates
the largest  exploration  licence in  Denmark  with an  area  of  1.3
million acres offshore.  The licence  area offers  P50 un-risked  net
prospective resources of 1.8  billion barrels oil or  8.4 Tcf of  gas
(independently  evaluated  by  Tracs  International,  an  independent
reservoir engineer, in  May 2008).  The Company owns  80% of  License
02/05, located offshore Denmark, with 20% held by a Danish government
entity.

In the Netherlands sector of the North Sea, the Company operates  two
gas-bearing exploration blocks. Block P1  is located on the  southern
margin of Southern Permian Gas basin and covers approximately 209 km2
(51,623 acres).  Seven wells have been drilled by previous operators,
of which five encountered gas on three separate structures. Block  P2
is directly adjacent and  east of Block P1.  The Company is  operator
and holds a net 33% interest in the two licences. Partners are Oyster
Energy BV ("Oyster") which  owns a 27%  working interest and  Energie
Beheer Nederland B.V. which owns a 40% working interest.

Progress on the  Dutch assets has  been hampered during  2008 by  the
lack of a joint  operating agreement and the  inability of Oyster  to
attract interest  in  the  intended disposal  of  its  holding.  This
situation has  become more  acute with  the decline  in oil  and  gas
prices. At the time of writing, the new Board is in discussions  with
Oyster to resolve  this situation  satisfactorily and  to enable  the
assets to be developed without further delay. Although the decline of
gas prices  is  not helpful  to  the project  economics,  the  assets
continue to  have  significant strategic  value  and we  believe  can
attract financing partners even in the current environment.

As you will be well aware, the Company did not meet its objective  of
making an Initial Public Offering and a listing on a recognized stock
exchange within one  year of  the pre-IPO  fund-raising completed  in
December 2007.  Although much of the preparatory work was  completed,
it was not possible  to get independent sign-off  of the reserves  in
the required time frame and the Company's financial advisors, Cormark
Securities Inc.  and  Jennings  Capital Inc.  suggested  the  IPO  be
delayed due to market volatility.   Achieving reserve status for  gas
deposits  requires  commercialization  paths   to  be  more   clearly
articulated than they have been to date. With equity and debt markets
now largely inaccessible  to small-cap companies,  we expect to  find
funding partners amongst strategic and industry participants.

The new Board intends to improve communication with shareholders  and
we will provide further updates from time to time.

Jack Bray
Chairman
January 13, 2009"

Further information on Elko can be found at www.elkoenergy.com. As an
unquoted company,  Elko is  not  subject to  the  AIM Rules  and  the
information contained in this announcement has not been reviewed by a
named "qualified person" as defined and required by the AIM  Guidance
Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies.



Enquiries please contact:


Xtract Energy      Andy Morrison, CEO  [phone]

Smith & Williamson David Jones         [phone]
Corporate Finance  Azhic Basirov

Scott Harris       Ian Middleton       [phone]
                   James O'Shaughnessy


About Xtract Energy

Xtract identifies and  invests in  a diversified  portfolio of  early
stage energy  sector  technologies and  businesses  with  significant
growth  potential.  The  Company  aims  to  work  closely  with   the
associated management teams to  achieve critical project  milestones,
to finance later  development stages,  and to  build and  crystallise
value for all shareholders and partners.

For further Information on Xtract please visit www.xtractenergy.co.uk

A short description  of the  principal assets  of Xtract  is set  out
below. These assets are either held directly or through wholly  owned
subsidiaries of the Company.

MEO Australia Ltd ("MEO")

MEO (ASX: MEO) aims to become an integrated Australian Gas-to-Liquids
("GTL") company. In 2008, MEO made significant gas discoveries in the
Australian Timor Sea,  in an area  of shallow water  known as  Tassie
Shoal.  Early  commercialisation  of  these  discoveries  is  planned
through construction of  Liquified Natural Gas  ("LNG") and  Methanol
plants and export terminals  on the off-shore  Tassie Shoal. MEO  has
already secured Australian Government environmental approvals for two
large scale (1.8  Mtpa) methanol  plants and a  3 Mtpa  LNG plant  on
Tassie Shoal. Xtract owns approximately  13.9% of MEO's issued  share
capital.

Elko Energy Inc. ("Elko")

Elko is a Canadian registered oil & gas exploration company which has
interests in exploration  and production licences  in the Danish  and
Dutch North Sea. Its major asset is  in the Danish North Sea; an  80%
interest on  26 offshore  blocks in  a 5,400  sq km  exploration  and
production licence close  to the prolific  Central Graben oil  field.
Technical work indicates the potential for significant reserves. Elko
also holds a 33% operating interest in gas-bearing license blocks  P1
and P2 in  the Dutch North  Sea. Xtract owns  approximately 35.4%  of
Elko's issued share capital.

Extrem Energy AS ("Extrem Energy")

Extrem Energy is  an exploration  and production  joint venture  with
Merty Energy of Turkey. The JV's aim is to create a new  medium-sized
oil and gas exploration and production business, initially focused on
Turkey where Merty  Energy has particular  experience and  expertise.
Extrem Energy has a portfolio of licence interests including the high
potential prospect at Candarli Bay in south-west Turkey. Xtract  owns
20% of the issued share capital  of Extrem Energy and has the  option
of increasing its shareholding to 34% before 30 June 2009.

Xtract Oil Ltd ("XOL")

Xtract's wholly owned subsidiary, XOL, is focused on the  development
of the Company's oil shale resources in Australia and the  technology
for oil extraction  from oil  shale resources. Xtract  has oil  shale
exploration rights over mining tenements  in the Julia Creek area  of
Queensland. In addition to  evaluating third party technologies,  XOL
has  been  developing  proprietary  technology  for  the   commercial
extraction of liquid hydrocarbon products from oil shale.

Xtract Energy (Oil Shale) Morocco SA ("XOSM")

XOSM is  a  joint  venture with  Alraed  Limited  Investment  Holding
Company WLL, a company controlled by His Highness, Prince Bandar  Bin
Mohd. Bin  Abdulrahman Al-Saud  of Saudi  Arabia. XOSM  has signed  a
Memorandum  of   Understanding   with   the   Office   National   des
Hydrocarbures et  des  Mines  for  the  purposes  of  evaluation  and
possible development of  an oil  shale deposit near  Tarfaya, in  the
south west part of Morocco. Xtract  currently holds 70% of the  joint
venture.

Wasabi Energy Ltd ("Wasabi")

Wasabi (ASX:  WAS)  is  a diversified  investor  in  traditional  and
renewable energy  technologies. Amongst  its listed  assets it  holds
approximately 38%  of Rum  Jungle Uranium  Ltd (ASX:  RUM) which  has
interests in uranium exploration licenses  covering some 4,150 sq  km
of  Australia's  Northern  Territory   and  approximately  12.5%   of
Greenearth Energy Ltd  (ASX:GER) which  aims to  explore and  develop
geothermal resources in Australia and  the wider Pacific Rim.  Xtract
owns approximately 19.4% of the issued share capital of Wasabi.

Zhibek Resources Ltd ("Zhibek Resources")

Zhibek Resources is an oil and gas exploration and production company
which has a 72% interest in the Tash Kumyr and Pishkoran  exploration
licences in  the  Kyrgyz Republic.   Xtract  has entered  a  farm-out
agreement to  fund  a seismic  and  drilling programme  for  2008-09.
Xtract owns 25.0% of the issued share capital of Zhibek Resources.

---END OF MESSAGE---


This announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is 
solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



Copyright © Hugin AS 2009. All rights reserved.