re: hardman Northern Petroleum Joins Hardman And Wessex In...

re: hardman Northern Petroleum Joins Hardman And Wessex In Elephant-Hunt Off The Coast Of Guyane
Northern Petroleum has picked up a 1.25 per cent stake in the Hardman Resources-operated permit that covers 65,000 sq km of acreage off the coast of Guyane, a frontier exploration province thought to be home to billion barrel prospects.

The London-quoted firm has acquired 50 per cent of Texan outfit Wessex International’s 2.5 per cent stake in the permit for an immediate sum of US$17,500 with a further £40,000 due when Hardman completes farm-out arrangements ahead of first drilling, due next year. Northern’s interest in the Guyane permit will be transferred into a new company jointly owned by Northern and Wessex. Northern has also agreed to lend the company US$200,000 to help finance the drilling and testing of a well at an interest rate of 2 per cent per annum.

The deal marks a shift for Northern, which tends to focus its efforts on European acreage with large equity positions.

“We were attracted to this because of the larger reserve potential,” exploration manager Graham Heard told oilbarrel.com. “It’s a practically unexplored basin and the prospect sizes are enormous. It could be very significant for us.”

According to Northern’s managing director Derek Musgrove, even a 1.25 per stake could be material because of the high potential of the permit.