The firms behind the Corrib gas field may have lost out on an estimated €38m in revenues in the third quarter as a result of odourless gas getting into the gas network and a scheduled downtime.

Providence Resources has hit a second major setback in the Porcupine Basin after summer drilling at the Drombeg well 220km off shore failed to hit oil and has been abandoned. The shares, which had one stage plunged by a third, ended the session 16.5% lower.

Shares in  plunged by as much as 40% yesterday, wiping around €41m from its market value, after the Irish explorer reported disappointing initial results from its highly-anticipated return to drilling off the west coast of the country.

An assessment of one of the Irish exploration prospects in which French oil ‘super-major’ Total has invested has returned an initial resource estimate of around 12bn barrels of oil equivalent.

One of the world’s largest oil companies, France’s Total has signed two commercial development deals with Irish exploration company Providence Resources – a move which sent the latter’s shares soaring as much as 11% yesterday.

Providence Resources boss Tony O’Reilly Jr has said landing a development partner for the company’s headline asset — the Barryroe oil and gas field off the Cork coast — remains the top priority despite a potential deal collapsing in the last few months.

Tony O’Reilly Jr’s Providence Resources has named Tullow Oil’s exploration director Angus McCoss to its board in a non-executive capacity.

Shares in British exploration company Europa Oil and Gas jumped by as much as 12% yesterday on news that it is sitting on nearly 1bn more barrels of oil in Irish waters than was previously projected.

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.

Shares in Providence Resources jumped more than 7% yesterday on the back of the Dublin-based explorer reporting a near €4m narrowing of annual losses.

Providence Resources and Europa Oil and Gas – two of the most active exploration companies in Irish waters – are confident of further deal activity after both landing development partners for assets they hold off the west coast of the country.

Scottish exploration company Cairn Energy has said it does not view its offshore Irish interests as priority assets, but remains committed to exploring here.

Providence Resources may opt to push out the intended farm-out of its stake in the much-anticipated Spanish Point prospect, off the south-west coast, to next year in a bid to take advantage of the recent upsurge in interest in exploration opportunities in Irish waters.

A number of exploration firms are lining up to buy newly available seismic data on key offshore basins ahead of September’s deadline for applications in the Government’s latest licensing round.

Providence Resources is expected to conclude a farm-out deal for its Spanish Point asset — in which it is a near 60% shareholder — in the next three to six months.

Three more companies within the past month have shown interest in investing in Providence Resources’ highly-rated Barryroe oil and gas field in the Celtic Sea.

Providence Resources has confirmed it has reached agreement over a farm-in deal at its headline Barryroe asset and has raised its stake in the highly-rated Spanish Point gas field off the west coast.

Scottish exploration firm Cairn Energy has begun evaluating seismic survey data relating to its offshore Irish acreage and said it remains on course for drilling in the area in 2015.

Providence Resources has said that planning for a resumption of drilling at its highly-anticipated Barryroe field off the Cork coast, as well as plans to bring in a development partner for the asset, are at an advanced stage.

Providence Resources is understood to have reached the stage where it is finalising commercial terms with potential development partners for its highly-anticipated Barryroe oil field off the Cork coast.

Providence Resources could see a 500% jump in its share price this year if it successfully manages to conclude its mooted 40% farm-out at its highly-rated Barryroe field in the Celtic Sea, according to one London-based exploration analyst.

Shares in Providence Resources fell by almost 10%, yesterday, after the Irish exploration company confirmed that drilling at one of its highly-anticipated assets off the west coast has been postponed.

Exploration drilling will not be undertaken in Irish waters this year, with the only previously anticipated activity being put on hold due to a lack of rig availability.

Scottish exploration firm Cairn Energy has suspended a $300m (€216m) share buyback programme, in which it has invested $95m.

The exploratory drilling for oil and gas off the Co Clare coast has moved a step closer with the rig, the Blackford Dolphin, arriving in Belfast in recent days.

Providence Resources has extended its acreage off the west coast, via the Government offering it and its developmental partners a frontier exploration licence for its Spanish Point South option. It requires operators commit to at least one exploration licence at a prospect.

Twelve international oil companies have expressed interest in buying into the Barryroe oil field, off the Cork coast.

Texan exploration company Kosmos Energy has commenced 3D seismic surveys on the two prospects off the Co Kerry coast in which it bought controlling stakes earlier this year.

Cairn Energy is to press on with its intentions to begin drilling off the west coast during the second quarter of next year, now that it has received formal Government approval for its plans.

Scottish exploration company Cairn Energy has added Ireland to its international regional portfolio; buying into two licences in the Porcupine Basin, off the west coast.

Upbeat retail sales figures in the US outweighed concerns over Spain’s creaking finances today as world markets continued to make solid gains.

A drop in oil prices triggered by a joint US and UK move to release strategic reserves pulled energy stocks and the wider FTSE 100 Index into the red today.

A lack of progress in talks between Greece and its creditors unsettled investors today as London's leading shares index failed to build on last week's gains.

A gloomy forecast from the Bank of England compounded fears over the future of the eurozone and further knocked the confidence of investors today.

The ongoing eurozone debt crisis continued to spook investors today with the FTSE 100 Index starting the new quarter on the backfoot.

Stock markets in Europe and the US have rebounded, led by shares in energy firms, on hopes that fighting in Libya may soon end.

The stock exchanges in both London and New York staged a modest recoveries today after four days of heavy losses on hopes of action tonight to boost the US economy.

The London market suffered its worst week since the financial crash of 2008 as traders continued to panic that the world economy is heading for recession.

EUROPEAN stocks sank the most in fourth months, extending an 11-month low, amid concern the US recovery is faltering and the world’s largest economy may lose its top credit rating.

The London market closed lower today as improved US jobs data failed to offset fears over the wider economy.

London’s blue chip market broke through the 6,000 mark for the first time in more than a month today as its run of gains continued despite falls in the banking sector.

Police say the head of Greenpeace has been arrested after climbing an oil rig off Greenland’s west coast in an attempt to stop a Scottish oil company from deepwater drilling in Arctic waters.