Vortex Resources Corp., Beverly Hills, Calif., (OTCBB: VTEX) plans to acquire all of the issued and allotted share capital of Sandhaven Securities Ltd. and its underlying oil and gas assets in NT Energy through its exercise option with London-based Blackhawk Investments Ltd. for an undisclosed price.

Sandhaven has about 62% control of NT Energy, which holds rights to mineral leases covering approximately 12,972 acres in the Texas Barnett shale in Parker, Jack and Palo Pinto counties. Sandhaven is a subsidiary of Sandhaven Resources Plc, London, (Plus Markets: SHRP). Blackhawk will exercise its option to acquire the leases and then transfer such leases to Vortex.

Vortex chairman Mike M. Mustafoglu says, “We are excited about entering the Barnett shale play with acreage of this size and quality. As you know, Barnett field, a mega-shale play, is the most mature out of the emerging shale plays in that it has been aggressively developed since the beginning of the decade. This acquisition conforms to our philosophy of entering drilling projects where risks have been adequately identified in order to produce stable and attractive risk-adjusted returns for our shareholders.”

Vortex chief executive Yossi Attia says “According to studies made by NT Energy, this acreage is capable of supporting the drilling of 108 wells. Each successful well usually contains 1 billion to 1.5 billion cubic feet of reserves.” SJP