Shares surge on Irish oil find

Shares in British explorer Europa Oil and Gas climbed 6% yesterday on the back of the company effectively doubling the reserve estimate at one of its chief prospects off the west coast of Ireland.

Europa has been one of the most active players in Irish waters in recent times and currently has seven licences off the west coast, holding an estimated combined four billion barrels of oil equivalent. Earlier this week, its deal to bring in Scottish explorer Cairn Energy as a development partner for part of its asset base was formally approved by the Irish Government.

Yesterday, Europa said it remains in talks with potential partners for the rest of its asset base. This includes frontier exploration licence 2/13 (FEL 2/13) in the southern Porcupine Basin, which Europa estimates holds potential for 1.12 billion barrels of oil – up from an earlier estimate of 595 million barrels. Some 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas is also included in the estimate.