looks like its hit oil, don't know whats gonna happen, any idea's ???

just for you CHARTIST i'm not shouting!

Tipped in the Daily Mail today ! Looking forward to next week.

Settlement of dispute

http://www.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/20040430152135p7eed.html

Drilling update IOW

http://www.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/20040506122329P4A22.html

Smaller companies spotlight
Pat Lay's
small caps, This Is Money
13 May 2004


Pat Lay's
small caps

Strike it unlucky

SOME people are just born unlucky, like the chap who run a horticultural business on the Isle of Wight but failed to make it pay. He decided to sell off his 20 acres inviting offers of around 7,000 an acre for something that, had it been farmland, would have been worth a third of that.

He must have thought all his birthdays had come at once when he received an offer of 9,000 an acre for 4.2 acres early this year, but only if the deal was closed quickly.

He didn't wait to ask why and so wasn't told. If he had, he might have learned what has since become news: the land he sold, a few miles from Cowes and close to Parkhurst Prison, may be sitting on one of the UK's largest onshore oil fields. If it is, then it could be worth a fortune.

It may be some time before anybody knows for sure, but Derek Musgrove, managing director of Northern Petroleum, is fairly confident and has already applied to the Isle of Wight County Council for permission to construct a site and drill an exploratory borehole down to a depth of 1,600 metres.

He says: 'This project has been the result of two years extensive study. We are probably the first company to have access to an almost complete seismic and well database acquired by major and junior oil companies from 1980 to 1992, and our detailed studies have brought new indications of what may be there.'

Mr Musgrove admits that the current high oil price would make this a very good deal for Northern, but says if world oil prices were half their current level, it would still be a commercial proposition.

There is still a long way to go, of course, with environmentalists and others all likely to get involved before permission to drill is won, but with the current state of the oil market Mr Musgrove is likely to have the politicians on his side, at least.


http://www.thisismoney.com/20040513/si78189.html

Was anyone at Northerns proposed news conference on Isle of Wight today ??

This should be of interest to anyone holding Northern!


Latest Southampton news



Date Published: Thursday 13 May 2004

Tapping into black gold riches
by Gareth Lewis




BLACK GOLD: Potential oil and gas sites spread across Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and West Sussex.


YOU could be forgiven for thinking that oil drilling only happens in dusty Texas or the North Sea, not the green fields of Hampshire.

But one company is convinced black gold flows beneath our feet and is hoping to tap into it.

BACK in 1988 oilmen drilled in Hedge End, just next to junction 7 on the M27. They found the precious liquid sure enough, but decided there just wasn't enough to make it worth the expense of pumping it out.

But now, as oil prices break the famous $40 (22) a barrel barrier, all that has changed and one company, Northern Petroleum, reckons there's a healthy profit to be made.

Bosses announced today they are considering drilling at four sites across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight - a move which could generate a 31.5m cash bonanza each year.

A site at Auld Youngwoods Farm near Porchfield on the Island could yield as much as 1,000 barrels of oil a day, reckon experts at Northern Petroleum who have persuaded the company to buy 4.2 acres there.

If everything goes smoothly, the well could begin producing oil in as little as four months.

Analysts are poring over data from a number of other sites spread across Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and West Sussex to identify a further two spots which would produce enough oil to make it worth drilling.

If the other three match the Porchfield site's 1,000-barrel-a-day potential the 4,000 barrel total would still be just a drop in the black ocean of oil produced daily - Russia alone produces 10.6 million barrels a day.

Exactly how much oil lurks beneath the ground in Hampshire is unknown, but the oilmen are confident enough to put up the 1m needed to drill at each spot.

"We wouldn't commit the money if we didn't think the prospects were good," says exploration manager Graham Heard.

"There is quite a lot of oil under the ground in Hampshire. It has got a fair number of producing oilfields and there's quite a lot of oil generated."

He warned against dreaming of Dallas-style wealth.

"We are not expecting huge amounts of oil. If you put it in terms of what's in the North Sea it's very small, but we think if you can produce 150 barrels a day you can make it work.

"We don't know what it will produce but probably the maximum is 1,000 barrels a day.

"We won't know until we test the reservoir. It is all unknowns at the moment. But it is not going to be like Dallas. We are not going to be putting up hundreds of wells."

It's not the first time Hampshire has been drilled for oil.

In August last year Pentex Oil UK announced it had found more than 100 million barrels of black gold beneath fields outside Winchester. It was the most significant find since 500 million barrels were discovered just down the coast at Wytch Farm in Dorset, at the end of the 1970s.

The Isle of Wight site has also been drilled before - by British Gas in 1981, but Mr Heard thinks they simply missed the oil reservoir.

"They drilled down to that level and they didn't find anything. We think they drilled off the target location."

In Hedge End, the company has yet to find a site from which to launch an exploratory drilling operation but it is looking within a one-mile radius of the initial exploration next to the motorway.

Although the company says it wants a site that minimises the impact on residents, residents are less than pleased at the return of the oilmen.

Brenda Cantell, 54, manager of the Winged Fellowship charity shop in Lower Northam Road, Hedge End, said: "I think its dreadful news. When it happened last time I was so glad when they gave up.

"To know that they might try again is just awful. There will be a lot of dust, dirt and noise and that sort of thing interferes with the traffic too."

Jane Welsh, vice-chairman of Hedge End Town Council, said it was too early to take a firm view on the plans, adding: "We are obviously concerned about this.

"What exactly is being proposed and what benefits Hedge End would gain and what our residents would have to suffer?"

But the business world welcomed the idea of oil money flowing into the town.

Lakhweer Gill, manager of the post office at Upper Northam Road, Hedge End, said: "It would be good for business in the area. As long as it doesn't affect the environment, then I think it's a positive thing."

Catherine Wright, of the town's Chamber of Commerce, said: "It would be great to see those dollars being spent in our fine retail establishments and restaurants."

Before extracting oil from any site, Northern Petroleum needs to be granted two planning permissions from the council - one to allow it to test to see the extent of the reservoir and a second to allow it to go into production.

FUEL FACTS:

A GROWING number of analysts now predict that global oil production will peak within the coming decade and then start to decline, leading to higher energy prices with major economic consequences.

Oil is the largest single traded commodity in the world. It supplies about 95 per cent of all transportation fuels and 40 per cent of the world's commercial energy.

It is also critical for thousands of manufactured products and for food production.

Some major oil companies have recently acknowledged the increasing difficulties of finding and producing new sources of oil to replenish reserves.

While consumption has continued to rise, worldwide oil discoveries have declined steadily since the 1960s, despite extensive exploration with the most advanced technologies.

The world now uses more than three times the amount of oil that it finds in a year.

TOP OIL PRODUCERS:

2003 figures in millions of barrels per day

Russia: 10.6

Saudi Arabia: 8.18

Iran: 3.78

China: 3.43

Norway: 3.29

UK: 2.45

Brazil: 1.81

Iraq: 1.45




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Newspaper comments

http://www.thisishampshire.net/hampshire/southampton/news/SOTON_NEWS_NEWS0.html

It will be interesting to watch NOP tomorrow. The IOW planners have recommended a conditional approval of the application to drill at the Sandhills-2 location, off Whitehouse Road near Porchfield:

http://www.iwight.com/council/committees/Mod-development_control/14-9-04/paperb1.htm

Final approval is with the the Development Control Committee which meets on 14th Sept.

Personally I figure the chart to be in Wave 3 of a 5 wave move. It should complete a good wave 3, maybe correct and then top out in a Wave 5 at which point it may be advisable to take some profits! Timeframe: 2 to 3 weeks

Well found pwmiles. Not in the bag yet but looking good

From the Daily Express

SHARE WHISPER: NORTHERN PETROLEUM (could be about to take a big step forward on its Isle of Wight drilling prospects)


RNS Number:7548C
Hereward Ventures PLC
09 September 2004

Hereward Ventures plc

Hereward Ventures buys further UK onshore hydrocarbon exploration rights
LONDON (AFX) - Hereward Ventures PLC said it has raised its stake in three
onshore hydrocarbon exploration licenses in the South of the UK to 7.5 pct from
the previous 5 pct and has joined a bidding group which has applied for new
licences in the UK 12th Round of Onshore Licensing.

It has entered into an agreement with Oil and Gas Investments Ltd to acquire a
2.5 pct interest in UK onshore hydrocarbon exploration licences PEDL 098, 099
and 113.

In return, Hereward will contribute 5 pct of future costs which will include an
appraisal well to be drilled on the Sandhills-2 prospect on the Isle of Wight by
the operator Northern Petroleum (GB) Ltd, a subsidiary of AIM-quoted Northern
Petroleum PLC.

These licences have exploration targets with attractive upside potential in
both the middle Jurassic Great Oolite and in the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone
formations.

The estimated potential recoverable reserves at Sandhills-2 are believed to be
10-15 mln barrels in the Great Oolite and 20-80 mln barrels in the Sherwood
Sandstone, Hereward added.

NOP should be on the up on Wednesday Morning after decision by planning on Tuesday evening. Look forward to it goinmg through the 10p barrier.

Oil testing approved
Councillors are allowing testing for oil to take place on land near Porchfield. Isle of Wight Council's Development Control Committee met this evening and granted Northern Petroleum planning permission to drill a borehole into a site off Whitehouse Road. Two local residents raised concerns about possible pollution of a nature reserve and a dangerous increase in traffic. A planning officer advised councillors to approve the application because he's satisfied the drilling would cause no long term harm to the area. The decision comes as Northern Petroleum is awarded two new licences to look for oil here. The company says it will be exploring an site near Brading and an area of the Solent off the coast of Yarmouth. You can hear more about the plans with Northern Petroleum's Exploration Manager Graham Heard in the Isle of Wight This Morning tomorrow morning on FM 107 and 102 Isle of Wight Radio at 6.30am.

OIL TEST GIVEN GREEN LIGHT
13 September 2004
A borehole to test the Island's oil reserves has been given the go-ahead.

At a meeting of the IW Councils Development Control Committee, Northern Petroleum has been granted permission to test a site at Porchfield over a five month period. A hole will be bored 90m deep on land at Youngswood Farm, off Whitehouse Road. Traffics expected to impact the area in the initial stages, before dying down. Northern Petroleum says its confident the land will be restored after the test. Two people had objected to the plans because of fears over pollution and increased noise and vehicles but the scheme got the backing of ten members of the Development Control Committee. One member, Councillor David Yates, described it as an "awful necessity". Meanwhile, Northern Petroleum has also announced that it has won two new licences from the government to explore for oil on the Island. One covers the East Wight area around Brading and the other is an offshore site, between Yarmouth and Lymington
http://www.solent.tv/pageviewer.aspx?page=S632306950260708750

Moving in the right direction but still no news from the company! Where are they?

Interesting but it does not mention the actual news!

LONDON (AFX) - Shares in Northern Petroleum edged higher in the wake of bullish noises from Mark Watson-Mitchell of SQC Research.

Market whispers, said Watson-Mitchell, suggest that a floating off of a part of the company's Italian interests into a new OFEX vehicle is imminent, the value of which would significantly underpin the current market capitalisation of the group.

Further early newsflow could centre upon the 12th Onshore and the 22nd Offshore UK Licensing Rounds, as well as the green light from the planners for the Isle of Wight drilling programme, the analyst added.

Watson-Mitchell sets a price target for Northern of 20 pence by the end of 2005. Its shares were 0.37 ahead at 9.87 pence by 8.32 am.

News just came in !!

I am very new to this game and so need some advice!

The news has been and gone but the price hasn't moved. Is it time to go elsewhere or am I too impatient?

I am starting to feel that 10p is not just a psycological barrier - it is fair value.

np

Yes, I would tend to agree that 10p is a fair value today but they can now drill Sandhills-2 which has the possibilty of striking oil and has been described as low risk although in the oil industry there are no certainties when it comes to finding oil. Nop may also float the Italian part of the company [rumoured to be imminent] on Ofex which could generate 16 million if you can believe the stories going about. If oil is hit on Sandhills-2 the other licences would look very promising as they are following the same Geology.
10p has been tried before but has proved a stumbling block but the company is in a better position now tha then so IMHO I would think it will go through 10p before the weekend.