Fastnet Oil and Gas open to M&A options

Dublin-based exploration firm Fastnet Oil and Gas is open to partaking in merger and acquisition activity, as part of the wave of consolidation expected to materialise in the international oil and gas sector in the next few years.

The company — which is active offshore in Morocco and Ireland, in the Celtic Sea —yesterday announced some significant extensions to its Irish asset portfolio; including the awarding of a new licensing option located in the north Celtic Sea basin.

Yesterday Fastnet chief executive Carol Law said that despite a number of setbacks (the company has relinquished its onshore interests in Morocco and has shelved plans for further asset acquisitions in eastern Africa; while plans to finalise farm-in agreements on its various Celtic Sea assets by the end of 2014 didn’t come to fruition), management remains upbeat on the company’s progress.