Infrastrata gains final investment for Northern Irish oil well

Infrastrata, the AIM-listed oil explorer and gas storage company, has agreed several farm-out agreements to fund the drilling of its Woodburn Forest-1 well in Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Following the 15% interest taken up by Ermine Resources in the PL1/10 licence, where the Woodburn Forest well will be drilled, Infrastrata and its partner in the projects, Brigantes Energy, have secured investment from four new investors that will complete funding needs for the initial exploration well in the first half of 2016.

AIM peer Baron Oil has agreed to buy a 10% interest, Tudor Hall Energy Limited another 10%, Southwestern Resources Limited 16% and Petro River UK Limited (9%) to complete the take-up for a 60% stake in the project.

All parties have signed an escrow agreement whereby the funds for drilling the well are being transferred to an account being administered by Infrastrata's solicitors, Fieldfisher LLP, though a notable condition of the deal is that the well is drilled during the first half of 2016.

"To achieve this several factors need to be met, including securing the drilling rig and other contractual arrangements which are expected to be put in place in the next few weeks," the company said.

Infrastrata has also swapped the shares of a few assets with Brigantes in order to ease the administration of the new farm-outs, with a transfer of a 5% interest in PL1/10 from Brigantes to InfraStrata, a 10% interest from InfraStrata to Brigantes in adjoining offshore block P2123 and the payment of £86,459 cash from Brigantes to InfraStrata.

Infrastrata will be left with just a 10% operated interest in the PL1/10 block, having also last year agreed to transfer another 10% of to Corallian Energy for £300,000 cash, which recent inquires confirmed is due to be paid soon.

After working on this licence began in 2011, chief executive Andrew Hindle was raring to finally begin drilling.

"The technical evaluation of the area has confirmed the presence of numerous prospects within the Larne-Lough Neagh Basin of Northern Ireland. There are three target conventional sandstone reservoir intervals, the Triassic Sherwood, Permian Lower Permian Sandstone and Carboniferous Sandstones."