Petro River UK Ltd. entered a farm-out agreement to acquire a 9% interest in petroleum licensex PL 1/10 and P2123 in Northern Ireland’s Larne Basin, parent company Petro River Oil Corp. said Jan. 20.

The licenses, one onshore and one offshore, cover about 130,000 acres spanning much of the prospective basin. Larne is broadly similar to the carboniferous-sourced East Irish Sea Basin to the southeast, which has produced over 200MMbbl of oil and 4Tcf of gas.

The Woodburn Forest #1 is the initial well that will be drilled under the agreement. It is permitted, funded and scheduled to be drilled onshore to about 6,000 ft total depth in the first quarter of 2016. Woodburn Forest #1 has prospective un-risked recoverable resources exceeding 30MMbbl of oil, Petro River added.

Southwestern Resources Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Horizon Energy Partners LLC, will acquire a 16% interest and Brigantes Energy Ltd. will retain a 10% interest. The remaining 65% will be owned by third parties, Petro River said.

Stephen Brunner, Petro River’s president, said that past political and geological issues have rendered the Larne the only truly untested carboniferous basin Europe.

Horizon Energy Partners LLC is based in Denver.

Petro River Oil Corp. is based in New York.