Hereward Ventures plc in gas licence deal with Northern Petroleum

Hereward Ventures plc has said it signed a farm-in agreement with Northern Petroleum (GB) Ltd, a wholly owned unit of Northern Petroleum plc, to buy 10% of the onshore oil and gas exploration licence that covers parts of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Under the agreement, Hereward pays 30% of all costs incurred by Northern for the completion of an earn-in well. In addition, it will pay £45,000 (€67,579 ) to Northern as a contribution to past expenses which have been incurred in well log analysis, seismic interpretation and the mapping of prospects.

The licence area is less than 20 miles east from the BP PLC-operated Wytch Farm oilfield, the largest onshore oilfield in Europe with recoverable reserves of about 500 million barrels.

The Bristol-based mineral exploration company engages in the mineral exploration of gold and silver mainly in Bulgaria and Ireland.

The company is is currently exploring for zinc within eight prospecting licences that form a contiguous block, the Tullamore Licence Block, 80 kilometres west of Dublin.