Nautical Petroleum has entered into an agreement with First Oil Expro Limited to acquire a 25 percent interest in UK Petroleum Exploration and Development License P1756, North Sea Block 3/27a, which contains the Hydra prospect.

Nautical was previously the operator of Block 3/27a, and has exercised an option to farm-in to the block with First Oil Expo Limited.

The license commitment, to be completed by January 10, 2015, is the acquisition of 155 miles (250 kilometers) of 2D and 39 square miles (100 square kilometers) of 3D seismic plus a well to be drilled at the discretion of the participants.

First Oil Expro Limited, the operator, currently hold a 100 percent interest in P1756. The transfer of interest is subject to completion of due diligence and approval by the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Steve Jenkins, Nautical Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are delighted to be returning to this block. We have extensive knowledge of it and look forward to further investigating, with First Oil Expro, its prospectivity at both the Tertiary and Jurassic levels."

Tags: Nautical Petroleum plc