UK oil firm Europa Oil and Gas declares 4bn barrels in Irish waters

UK exploration firm Europa Oil and Gas is sitting on an estimated four billion barrels of oil equivalent and 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas in Irish waters.

The company last week landed another four licensing options across three basins in the final tranche of awards from the Government’s recent Atlantic Margin Licensing Round — bringing to seven the total number of licences it holds in Irish waters.

The company said, last week, that it was hopeful of securing a development partner for its most established licences before the end of the year.

Speaking yesterday, as part of a portfolio update, Europa’s chief executive Hugh Mackay said the company has the assets to attract farm-out partners.

“All our licences have the potential to be high-impact and each one could be a company-maker for Europa in the event of drilling success.

"Potential joint venture partners often cite the need for ‘running room’ in a basin – they want more than one licence. Europa is now in a position to be a one-stop-shop for that running room,” he said.

In January, Europa opened the data room on the two licences it already held off the south-west coast prior to the latest licensing round.

It now hopes to agree a farm-out deal for those licences (it will look at farming out its new licences at a later date) in the second half of the year, with drilling work expected to start during 2018.

It is understood approx 50 major and mid-cap explorers have passed through Europa’s Irish data room and that around 12 are seriously interested in investing.

Mr Mackay said Europa now has a leading position in Ireland’s Atlantic basins, which he added have now emerged as “a global exploration hotspot”.