Drilling to begin at Lansdowne asset
Such a move would come a month before the close of the Government’s Atlantic Margin licensing round, aimed at boosting exploration interest in waters off the west coast. It would also mark the first time any drilling work has commenced in Irish waters for two years; Providence Resources/ExxonMobil’s failed Dunquin North project being the last in 2013. Lansdowne’s activity will also mark the first drilling work in the Celtic Sea since work carried out at the highly anticipated Barryroe field in 2011/2012. Drilling at Providence Resources’ Spanish Point asset had been expected to restart activity in the Irish offshore arena this year, but that project has been postponed until sometime next year.
Lansdowne – the junior partner at Barryroe – yesterday announced that drilling is expected to start at its Midleton prospect in the northern Celtic Sea in August. The Dublin-headquartered company holds a 20% stake in the asset, with Kinsale Energy (the Irish subsidiary of Malaysian explorer, Petronas) the operator and 80% majority stakeholder. Lansdowne’s share price jumped by 20% yesterday, on the back of the news.
