SEIR to begin €17m drilling project

Statoil Exploration Ireland Limited (SEIR) are to begin a €17m drilling exploration in late July on the Cong prospect - 32 nautical miles north west of Mayo.

The Cong prospect is located in approximately 400m of water in the Atlantic Ocean and will be drilled by the Sedco 711, a rig owned and operated by Transocean, which is currently drilling for Ramco on the Seven Heads Field off Cork.

The drilling is expected to take just over two months to complete.

The Sedco 711 rig will be fully serviced from Killybegs Harbour and Donegal Airport.

A range of local service suppliers have also been contracted for the duration of the drilling.

Welcoming the drilling of the Cong prospect John Browne, Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources said: "Ireland's almost total dependency on imports for its energy requirements highlights the need to increase the share of energy supply produced from indigenous resources."

Statoil Exploration, operator of the well, has a 40% shareholding in Cong. Its co-venturers are Enterprise Energy Ireland Limited (45%) and Murphy Ireland Offshore Limited (15%).

John Conroy, general manager, Statoil Exploration Ireland said: “We are hopeful for a positive result from the Cong Prospect this summer. However, drilling offshore Ireland remains an outside bet in terms of discovering a significant, commercial find”.

The company last drilled an exploration well offshore Ireland on the Sarsfield prospect in the Porcupine Basin in 2001.

However that well was plugged and abandoned as no indications of oil or gas were found.

SEIR was awarded its first exploration licences in 1994 and acquired Aran Energy in 1996.