Horizon Energy (HORI) has signed an option agreement for leases known as the Holmes Oil Unit Number 1 in the East Texas counties of Cherokee and Rusk.

The land under consideration consists of 82.89 acres located in the Pettit formation close to the town of Rusk, which is the Cherokee county seat. The agreement with Ponta E&P is the second project in Horizon’s ongoing efforts to identify prospective opportunities for the exploration, development and production of domestic oil and gas.

According to Texas oil and gas data provider texasdrilling.com, there are 478 producing leases in Cherokee County, with 2,647 drilled wells that produced 19,750 barrels of oil and 1,356,164 MCF of natural gas in November 2013. Neighboring Rusk County (924sq. miles) has 2,981 producing leases with 18,200 drilled wells. Rusk County produced 157,548 barrels of oil and 8,558,541 MCF of gas in November 2013.

"Horizon Energy Corporation is very committed to establishing long-term relationships with its partners to identify and capitalize on drilling opportunities by working in low production wells and small fields requiring technology and capital," said Robert Bludorn, president and CEO of Horizon Energy.

He added, "The Pettit formation has proven to be an area which provides conservative asset appreciation and our research validates the probabilities for success."