Dorset: PEDL 238

(Norwest 50% and operator)

The PEDL 238 exploration licence lies on the coast of Dorset immediately north of BP's giant Wytch Farm oil and gas field. Stretching between Christchurch and Poole Harbour, it includes the city of Bournemouth. During the third quarter of 2009, Norwest successfully completed a high-resolution ground gravity survey in the permit. In combination with a 2008 survey, this provides complete gravity survey coverage over PEDL 238.

Gravity surveys acquired by Norwest and existing seismic surveys indicate the permit holds several large basement-involved structures.

In early 2010, Norwest completed a regional geology and geophysical (G&G) and resource evaluation for its Wessex Basin blocks, including PEDL 238. This review identified seven significant oil and gas leads that will now form the basis of more detailed analysis to convert leads into drillable prospects. Five of these leads lie in PEDL 089.

These leads range in size from the large Mooneye lead to the much smaller Coho, which is still likely to be very much commercially viable if oil is present. On a P50 (50% likelihood) basis, if oil is present, Mooneye could hold an estimated 53.88 million barrels of recoverable oil, while Coho could hold 10.76MMbbl.

PEDL 238 also holds the Beluga lead, which straddles the boundary with the PEDL 089 (Hurst Castle) permit. On a P50 basis, Beluga could hold 8.92MMbbl of recoverable oil in its PEDL 238 portion and another 6.92MMbbl in its Hurst Castle sector.