Cabot Energy Regulatory News (CAB)

7 Oct 2005 06:00

Embargoed: 07:00hrs 07 October 2005 Northern Petroleum Plc ("NP" or the "Company") Drilling Report Northern Petroleum Plc announces that its Bouldnor Copse-1 exploration well inPEDL 089(A) on the Isle of Wight encountered the expected thick sequence ofSherwood sandstone of Triassic age and has been logged and found not to containsignificant hydrocarbons. The decision has been taken to plug and abandon thewell.This brings to a conclusion the 2005 two well programme for the Wessex basin.Derek Musgrove, Managing Director stated "The result is disappointing as weencountered a particularly encouraging reservoir formation in terms of porosityand thickness at the predicted depth, only to find that oil had not migratedinto the structure. Before drilling, the presence of a good thickness ofreservoir had been assessed as the main risk.Whilst the implications for the Isle of Wight in the Wessex basin are verydiscouraging, I believe that shareholders should take heart that this does notreflect adversely upon the mapped and evaluated prospects in the Weald basin,scheduled for drilling in 2006."PEDL 089(A) partners are:Northern Petroleum (GB) Limited 70%Wessex Exploration Limited 20%Oil Quest Resources Plc 10%For further information please contactDerek MusgroveNorthern Petroleum PlcTel 020 7743 6080Hansard CommunicationsChris Roberts/Ben SimonsTel: 020 7245 1100ENDNORTHERN PETROLEUM PLC