Island Oil gets 5-year licence

ISLAND OIL & GAS PLC, an Irish oil and natural gas producer, was awarded a five-year licence to explore off the Dutch North Sea coast.

Island Oil will have full ownership of the shallow part of an area adjacent to the Amstel field, while the deep waters will be operated by Cirrus Energy Nederland BV, the Dublin-based company said yesterday.

The licence area has an estimated 12.4m barrels of oil in place, said the company.