Petrel accepts two options in Irish Atlantic

Oil and gas exploration company Petrel Resources announced on Friday that it has formally accepted two new Licensing Options in the Porcupine Basin, offshore Ireland, as part of phase two of the 2015 Atlantic Ireland licensing round.

The AIM-traded firm confirmed it is the 100% operator, and said the licences have two year terms with agreed work programmed, following which Petrel has the option to convert to Frontier Exploration Licences.

Its board described Licensing Option 16/24 as being in the northeastern Porcupine Basin, with a considerable grant of 664 square kilometres encompassing the entirety of Blocks 26/26 and 35.01, as well as available parts of 26/27 and 35/02.

It said Licensing Option 16/25 lies in the eastern Porcupine Basin, closer to shore, and encompasses 260 square kilometres of the entirety of Block 45/27.

The work programme agreed on each Licensing Option include the purchase of additional seismic data not already in Petrel’s database, after which it will reprocess and reinterpret the enlarged dataset.

“The resounding success of the 2015 Bid Round has transformed the Irish Atlantic, and especially the Porcupine Basin,” said director David Horgan.

“When we first applied for acreage in 2011 it was a lonely path. Financial markets were sceptical and the industry unconvinced.

“We have persisted with our work on and evangelising of the Porcupine Basin,” he added.

Horgan said there were three discoveries in the Porcupine Basin between 1978 and 1991, of which the Spanish Point discovery is due to be re-drilled by Cairn.

He said recent technological advances, better understanding of geology and higher average oil and gas prices have opened up the Irish Atlantic, with previous oil price falls after 1986 and 1998 leading to operator departures and a drying up of interest.

“But the oil price fall of 54% since mid-2014 has not diminished explorer interest,” Horgan explained.

“Instead, more and bigger companies are bidding larger work programmes.”

He pointed out that in the 2015 Bid Round, 43 applications were made by 17 companies but only 28 offers were made, with less than half of the acreage applied for eventually offered.

“We plan to apply new techniques and lessons learnt elsewhere to the new ground, approaching innovative partners open to different ideas, and we hope to expand our Porcupine Basin presence in the future,” Horgan concluded.