Lansdowne share price jumps 15% on sale reaction

Irish exploration firm Lansdowne Oil & Gas saw its share price jump by nearly 15% yesterday on the back of it attracting a development partner for its Celtic Sea assets.

The AIM-listed firm, which is a junior partner at the highly-rated Barryroe field off the Cork coast, has sold an 80% interest in its Midleton/East Kinsale gas prospect to Kinsale Energy; a subsidiary of Malaysian group Petronas.

Under the terms of the deal, Kinsale will take over 80% ownership of the gas prospect in return for covering Lansdowne’s share of the cost of any drilling and well-testing programme up to $2.5m (€2m), with Lansdowne having a free carry.