Alta, 12 February 2015

North Energy made preparations in the fourth quarter of 2014 for an active exploration campaign in 2015. At the same time, the board initiated a strategic review with the aim of manifesting the innate values in company - in part through a substantial reduction in costs.

The company was awarded two attractive high-priority production licences in the 2014 awards in predefined areas (APA). One of these, PL 805 on the Lopp High in the Barents Sea, lies in a very interesting area just east of the Gohta and Alta discoveries. Lundin is operator and North Energy was awarded a 20 per cent share.

"We're very satisfied with the award of PL 805, and have again demonstrated our strength in the licensing rounds," comments Kristin Berli, vice president for exploration and business development at the company. "The value of this licence could be considerably enhanced through Lundin's forthcoming drilling campaign in the Barents Sea."

Active drilling phase throughout 2015
The drilling plan for 2015 contains four wells, including two in the Norwegian Sea and one each in the North and Barents Seas. Drilling began on the Tvillingen South prospect in PL 510 in the Norwegian Sea on 26 December. Due to test roughly 700 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), including about 100 mmboe for North Energy, the drilling programme is fully financed.

Strategic review
Given low oil prices and tougher market conditions, the board initiated a process in December which aims to assess the strategic opportunities available to the company. DNB Markets has been hired as the adviser to the process. In parallel, the company is tailoring its level of activity to the challenging market conditions in the industry. North Energy will implement measures during the first half-year to reduce its annual operating costs to NOK 100 million.

Financial results
The company made a net loss of NOK 28.4 million in the fourth quarter. That primarily reflected exploration and licence costs amounting to about NOK 20.2 million after tax. North Energy is financed with an equity of NOK 447.4 million and had net cash holdings of NOK 324.5 million at 31 December. That included cash in hand and tax receivable less exploration loan draw-down.

The interim report and presentation for the fourth quarter is attached. They are also available at www.northenergy.no.

North Energy will be presenting its results for the fourth quarter of 2014 at 09.00 today. The presentation will be given by Knut Sæberg, the CFO, and Kristen Berli, senior vice president for exploration and business development. The venue is the Felix Course and Conference Centre, Bryggetorget 3, Oslo.

The presentations can be followed via webcast.

Further information from:

Knut Sæberg, acting CEO
Mob: +47 918 00 720 | E-post: knut.saeberg@northenergy.no

Kristin Ingebrigtsen, vice president organisation and communication
Mob: +47 926 05 601 | E-post: kristin.ingebrigtsen@northenergy.no

This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.