Providence gets go-ahead to drill off Dublin coast

Providence Resources has been awarded a foreshore licence for its Dalkey Island prospect — a move which gives the company the green light to drill off the Dublin coast early next year.

However, the decision has been strongly opposed by environmentalists and heritage watchdog, An Taisce.

Just 6km off the coast, Dalkey is due to be one of the more imminent works as part of Providence’s recently started multi-well/multi-year offshore Ireland drilling round.

This licence will allow the Tony O’Reilly Jr-led company to undertake a site survey and seismic examination in preparation for exploratory drilling. Providence — which is the operator at Dalkey, but shares ownership with PSE Seven Heads Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysian oil and gas giant, Petronas — applied for the foreshore licence last November and is expected to begin drilling at Dalkey during the first quarter of 2013. That activity is expected to take around a month and is likely to cost between $10m and $12m, of which the Irish company will pay 50%.

Davy Stockbrokers hailed yesterday’s news as “a good reminder that there is much more to the Providence story than just its efforts to develop the Barryroe discovery in the Celtic Sea”.

In granting this licence, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Jan O’Sullivan said that she was satisfied that the Dalkey development “would not have a significant negative impact on the marine environment,” adding that it was in “the public interest to grant the foreshore licence having regard to the nature of the proposal”.

However, An Taisce has complained that drilling could have a negative effect on a number of fish and marine mammal species, while Independent TD Richard Boyd-Barrett said the decision had been made without proper consideration of a range of issues.

Prior to drilling, however, Providence still needs to submit two more applications to the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and related agencies, in order to conduct a survey and, finally, drill a well.

The company will also undergo a detailed examination and verification system audit covering its rig equipment and oil spill risks.

Dalkey is likely to be a significant asset for Providence, with the prospect containing estimates of around 250 million barrels of recoverable oil.