Circle Oil plc has been awarded a prospecting licence for Block A, Panama making it one of the largest offshore acreage holders in the region.

The license block, situated in the south-western Caribbean, off the northern coast of Panama, covers a total of 30,000sq km in the Panamanian waters of the Colombia Basin which is one of the major basins in the Caribbean Plate.

Circle will now carry out data interpretation work and, in 2006, intends to commence a full seismic programme.

Commenting on the licence acquisition Circle's Chief Executive David Hough said, 'The Caribbean is attracting increasing industry attention and several of the major oil producers have already acquired substantial holdings in the area.

Circle now boasts a global portfolio of major assets in Africa, the Middle East and now the Caribbean thereby underpinning the Company's strategy to explore in areas that have geological conditions with the potential for large discoveries.'