Island Oil and Gas to reassess dormant Schull gas field

ISLAND Oil and Gas has started to drill its second well of its 2007 two-well drilling programme in the Celtic Sea offshore Ireland.

Well 57/2-3, in which Island has a 62.5% share, is to reassess the Schull gas field found by Total in 1987, which has lain dormant since then due to the high cost of recovery.

Higher gas prices and the proximity of the Seven Heads infrastructure off Kinsale “makes this gas accumulation a completely different commercial proposition compared to when it was first discovered”, the company said in a statement.

Island currently several licences and option agreements in the Celtic Sea and in the Atlantic Margin off Ireland’s west coast.

Its portfolio includes interests in 11 offshore licences (four as operator and two as technical manager), including one producing field (the Seven Heads gas field). Island also has access to the Marathon infrastructure at Kinsale via Seven Heads and is party to a Gas Sales Agreement at Seven Heads.

Meanwhile, Providence Resources and its exploration partners announce that it has licensed part of the Spanish Point discovery in the Porcupine Basin, off the west coast of Ireland.

The data shall be used to fine-tune the location for a planned 2008 appraisal well, together with providing improved imaging of the nearby Burren oil discovery, which also lies within the licence area.