Egdon Resources plc (AIM:EDR) is pleased to announce that Lincolnshire County Council has granted Planning Consent for the drilling of an exploratory borehole on the Laughton Prospect in UK Onshore Petroleum Exploration and Production Licence PEDL209, located between the towns of Gainsborough and Scunthorpe in the East Midlands Petroleum Province.

The Laughton-1 well will target a structural trap defined on 2D seismic data. The prospect has multiple conventional Carboniferous sandstone reservoir targets with the primary objective being the Silkstone Rock, an approximately 15 metres thick sandstone interval which is productive in the Corringham oil field 5 kilometres to the South East. Egdon currently estimate gross Best Estimate Prospective Resources of around 1 million barrels of oil for the Silkstone Rock in the Laughton Prospect.

Under the terms of a Farm-in Agreement Egdon will earn a 60% interest in the Licence in return for paying 100% of the cost of the Laughton-1 exploration well which is estimated at around £1.3 million. Egdon expects to drill the well during 2014 as part of a planned East Midlands exploration drilling programme which, subject to planning, could include wells on the North Kelsey and Biscathorpe prospects.

The Licence Interests in PEDL209 at completion of the farm-in will be;

Commenting on the approval Mark Abbott, Managing Director of Egdon said:

“We are pleased that Lincolnshire County Council has approved the application for the drilling of the Laughton-1 exploration well and we will now work to satisfy the various planning and permitting conditions to be in a position to drill this well during 2014.”