Oil and gas explorer Rockhopper Exploration Plc said on Friday that it agreed on the terms for a farm-in of one of its licences with a third party energy company.

The company said the farm-in for the licences would be through a contribution, at a promote, to the costs of drilling one well on the licence and to certain back costs.

A letter of intent has been signed and any subsequent agreement remains subject to certain approvals by the Falkland Islands Government and both parties, Rockhopper said.

On Sept. 10, Rockhopper's partner Desire Petroleum Plc signed a contract with Diamond Offshore Drilling (UK) Ltd to secure a rig to drill a minimum of four wells in the Falklands Islands, starting February 2010.

Rockhopper said it expected to drill a minimum of two wells on its operated acreage as part of this larger campaign with Desire Petroleum.

Rockhopper shares were up 39 percent at 81.5 pence at 0757 GMT on the London Stock Exchange. They touched a trading high of 82.5 pence in early trade. (Reporting by Balachander Surianarayanan in Bangalore; Editing by Jarshad Kakkrakandy)

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