Lansdowne upbeat over Celtic Sea gas

Irish exploration company, Lansdowne Oil & Gas has said latest seismic studies on its assets in the Celtic Sea have yielded positive signs; “substantially” de-risking the projects ahead of anticipated drilling later this year and developmental partners coming on board.

The Dublin-headquartered company — which owns a 20% stake of the Providence Resources-controlled Barryroe field off the Cork coast — said yesterday that seismic analysis of the Celtic Sea gas assets which it fully controls (the Midleton and Rosscarbery prospects) has confirmed the presence of fluid anomalies that have been interpreted as gas; adding that the same sands that are present in the Barryroe target are present in its Amergin prospect. A conceptual development study of the Amergin oil prospect, also in the Celtic Sea, is under way.

Lansdowne is planning to begin drilling across the Amergin, Rosscarbery and Midleton assets in late 2013/early 2014. Prior to that, it is seeking a farm-in partner to take an equity stake in return for covering the drilling/developmental costs. Discussions are “continuing” and “advancing” with “a number of interested parties”.