“We’ve grabbed two permits and we want more,” he says.

“In both cases not only are the prospects good but the fiscal terms have been fantastic,” he says.

Previously expensive permit arrangements and high drilling costs kept small players out, but the British government has changed its lease arrangements in the North Sea after seeing that there was a need to attract more small companies into the region.

The new promote license regime allows companies to acquire a license simply by bidding a seismic interpretation rather than a series of wells. These leases only last for two years, at which time the company either loses the permit or it converts to a full permit if a drill program has been prepared.

“For a couple of hundred thousand pounds anybody can get an acreage – it’s not a big financial commitment but the potential rewards are huge,” Whitby says.

“It’s probably the lowest cost entrée to a prospective basin anywhere.”

The new promote license system has attracted surprisingly little interest from Australian companies, according to Whitby.

“Elixir also took some acreage – in fact it was specifically set up to operate in the North Sea, but we were the only two Australian companies to move in there initially,” he says.

Since then Perth-based junior Norwest Energy has farmed into one of Nido’s leases and Roc is also arranging to farm into the region.

Nido has two blocks in North Sea’s Southern Gas Basin. Both have gas discoveries on them.

“Britain is hungry for gas, and both our permits are close to production platforms and gas pipelines,” he says.

“When you look at the geology and the surrounding gas discoveries you can see there is very little exploration risk – the question is will any finds be big enough to produce commercial quantities?” he says.

Nido has teamed with Norwest Energy in a 50/50 venture to explore Permits 48/1a & 2b.

Permit 479C is about 50km from the other permit and is geologically very similar. Nido and London-based Corsair Petroleum have equal stakes in this gas-prone block.

In December Aegis Equities reported that Nido’s UK stakes were “on trend to some significant gas fields, ranging from 50 billion cubic feet to 2 trillion cubic feet. A previously drilled well flowed gas at 2 million cubic feet per day and other wells had gas shows, demonstrating reasonable prospectivity.”

Whitby is excited about the potential of these acreages and is keen for Nido to acquire more North Sea permits

“We’re not happy with having only two blocks in the Southern Gas Basin – we want more,” he says.