Europa plans to expand Irish interests

British exploration company Europa Oil & Gas intends to expand its Irish asset portfolio beyond its two existing prospects off the south-west coast, which have a mean total resource potential of around 2bn barrels of oil.

The London-headquartered firm, which has exploration assets in Britain, Ireland, mainland Europe, and northern Africa, is unlikely to drill at its Irish prospects until 2015, but is likely to apply for a frontier licence this summer, ahead of its licensing options expiring in November.

It has already held exploratory talks regarding potential farm-out agreements for its Irish interests, with a number of high-profile international players understood to have shown interest.