Northcote Energy, an onshore US oil and gas exploration and production company, has signed an agreement with Aminex to acquire a 25 per cent working interest in a number of producing leases at the South Field in Texas. Oil and gas producer Aminex will be paid in the region of $0.45m dollars, which will be settled by a combination of $0.15m in cash and 12.35m new shares in Northcote.Aminex Chairman, Brian Hall said: "The sale of this gas producing interest is the second in a divestment programme previously announced and follows our declared strategy for our US assets." The acquisition will become effective on September 1st, after which one third of the acquired interest will be assigned to Northcote Drilling Parnets for $0.15m cash. Northcote Chief Executive Randy Connally said: "This acquisition does not alter our focus on growing our production from our Mississippi Lime assets in Oklahoma; but the opportunity to acquire an accretive interest in a set of established assets, located in an area of South Texas that we like and which holds significant acreage for several decades to come, was too good to pass up."NR