Dana Petroleum has now acquired 40 per cent equity in the Danish 12/06 licence from PA Resources and will assume operatorship from 1 June. PA Resources retains a 24 per cent interest in the licence. Following on from the transfer of operatorship, Dana plans to drill an appraisal well on the Lille John oil discovery in the fourth quarter of 2014.

The licence is located near existing Dana operated licences in the Netherlands; the F02a producing licence containing the Hanze oil field and Pliocene (shallow) gas field and the F06 exploration licence.

Dana's Netherlands Managing Director Nick Dancer said: "I am delighted we have now formally acquired our interest in this licence from PA Resources and we will work with them to ensure a smooth transfer of the operatorship. We look forward, with the partnership, to the drilling of the Lille John appraisal well towards the end of the year.”

Dana will also acquire 56 per cent equity and an option for operatorship of the German B20008-73 licence from PA Resources (PAR) UK Ltd. This is currently proceeding through the regulatory approval process. This transaction will result in Dana acquiring up to 32 MMboe of contingent and prospective risked resource on a net basis.

About Dana Petroleum plc

Dana Petroleum plc, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC), is an international oil and gas business with operations in the UK, Egypt, Norway, the Netherlands and Africa, producing 50,000 barrels of oil a day. Dana’s ambition is to become a leading international oil and gas company operating in Europe, Africa and the Middle East and aims to grow production significantly by investing up to $5 billion over the next five years to increase the size of the company and create value for our shareholder.

About Dana Petroleum plc in the Netherlands

Our business in the Netherlands consists of a balanced portfolio of exploration, production and development projects. In 2010 our acquisition of Petro-Canada Netherlands B.V. bolstered our North Sea portfolio, giving us operating capability in the Netherlands and bringing an experienced management and technical team on board.

We operate seven offshore production and exploration licenses including the De Ruyter, Hanze, Van Ghent and Van Nes fields. In addition, we have interests in 17 non-operated production and exploration licenses, both offshore and onshore. Our average annual production in 2013 was around 10,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.