Barryroe drilling unlikely until 'well into 2020'

Long-awaited drilling at the Barryroe oil and gas field, off the Cork coast, is unlikely to start until "well into 2020" - more than a year later than initially planned - Providence Resources chief executive Tony O'Reilly Jr has said.

Addressing shareholders at Providence's agm in Dublin, Mr O'Reilly also indicated that the company will not be extending any further the deadline for payment of a $9m (€8m) initial development loan for Barryroe from APEC Energy, the Chinese consortium partnering Providence on the project.