Northern Petroleum delighted the market with news that its wholly-owned Netherlands subsidiary would shortly exercise its exploration rights over three oil and gas wells in the Netherlands under an agreement it has with NAM. The news took the total number of discoveries under Northern's umbrella to five. Under the agreement it has with NAM, a company jointly owned by Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil Corp, Northern will also farm-in to an onshore exploration part-area, in the Andel II licence, agreeing to a two-month extension to its option. Investors delighted in the news, as Northern reiterated that it estimated the volumes of the identified oil and gas prospects within the Andel II part area to be between 55-130 billion cubic feet of gas and 62-148 million barrels of oil. The shares finished 8p higher at 51.5p.