UK: Valiant Petroleum Enters Orchid Exploration Deal

Valiant Petroleum plc (“Valiant”)announces that its wholly owned subsidiary, Valiant Exploration Limited, has reached an agreement to acquire a 30% stake in Block 29/1c containing the Orchid prospect from Summit Petroleum Limited (“Summit”) in return for carrying a share of the cost of the initial exploration well.

The Orchid prospect is a four-way dip closure in the Tertiary and Chalk horizons and is a located in the Central North Sea surrounded by the producing Banff, Kyle, Bittern and Gannet group of fields. The Orchid prospect is located adjacent to acreage Valiant recently agreed to acquire from Sterling Resources (U.K.) Ltd, which contains a similar prospect and two smaller appraisal opportunities.

Summit, the operator, is currently seeking a semi-submersible rig to drill the prospect in the second half of the year.

Peter Buchanan, CEO, commented:

“We are pleased to join Summit in the Central North Sea which is a growing area of exploration focus for Valiant. Orchid will be the third exploration well planned for 2011 following the recent announcement regarding the farm-out of Cladhan South in the Northern North Sea and the Don Southwest Area E discovery made in the first quarter.”

In accordance with the AIM Rules, the information in this announcement has been reviewed and signed off by Justin Morrison, Exploration Manager, who has over 20 years relevant experience within the sector.

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Source: Valiant Petroleum,  April 4, 2011; Image: Summit