Commencement of Drilling

19 Sep 2005 10:36

Immediate Release: 19 September 2005 Northern Petroleum Plc ("Northern") Bouldnor Copse-1 commences drilling Northern Petroleum Plc announces that drilling commenced at the BouldnorCopse-1 well on the Isle of Wight on 17 September 2005. The well is located inPEDL 089(A) at co-ordinates 438537E 090179N and has a planned total measureddepth of 5000 feet. The primary target is the Sherwood Sandstone where Northernis targeting an oil prospect independently evaluated by ECL as being of thesize of up to 300 million barrels in place with the Great Oolite as a potentialsecondary objective.The rig has been erected at the Bouldnor Copse-1 drill site following thecompletion of operations at Sandhills-2 where Northern confirmed that oil hasmoved into the migration range of Bouldnor Copse-1.Northern has a 70% interest in PEDL 089(A).Derek Musgrove, Managing Director, commented,"The Bouldnor Copse-1 prospect is both deeper and potentially larger than thatof the previously drilled Sandhills-2. It should be noted that our primarytarget is considered to be beyond the depth for the potential forbiodegradation as encountered at Sandhills-2.As with the Sandhills-2 well the Company intends to provide at least onedrilling report per week on Wednesdays during operations.PEDL 089(A) partners areNorthern Petroleum (GB) Limited 70% Wessex Exploration Limited 20% Oil Quest Resources Plc 10% -Ends- For further information contact:Derek MusgroveNorthern PetroleumTel. 020 7743 6080Chris Roberts/Ben SimonsHansard CommunicationsTel. 020 7245 1100ENDNORTHERN PETROLEUM PLC