Barryroe oil field could start production ‘within 2-3 years’

Oil production at the one-billion-barrel Barryroe oil field off the Cork coast could commence within the next “two to three years” according to Tony O’Reilly, chief executive of the field’s owners Providence Resources.

Mr O’Reilly told the Irish Examiner that the exact time-frame for the field to enter production will depend on which major oil player Providence Resources chooses to enter into partnership with to develop the Barryroe field. Oil companies from the US, Asia and North Sea have all been in contact with Providence to discuss the prospect of partnering with the Irish company to develop Ireland’s first commercial oil field.

The next phase in setting up a partnership agreement will come when the company publishes its oil recovery factor data in October and the opening of a data room for prospective partners to fully access all available information on the Barryroe field. Following this phase it is expected Providence will enter into a partnership with a major oil company to bring Barryroe to production. Mr O’Reilly said the most likely oil production method will be the employment of shuttle tankers from a fixed platform; with gas from the field being piped to link with the existing gas pipeline attached to the Kinsale gas field.