Europa Oil and Gas has ruled out any prospect of drilling in Irish waters next year, but has said it is making significant progress towards drilling activity in 2020, including on its flagship gas project adjacent to the Corrib field off the west coast.

British explorer Europa Oil and Gas has launched a farm-out process for three of its licences located off the west coast, comprising half of its Irish-based assets.

Europa Oil and Gas, the British exploration company active off the west coast of Ireland, is looking to drill at its flagship asset close to the Corrib gas field next year.

The vast majority of oil exploration options awarded by the Government, in its last licensing round two years ago, are set to be taken up and progressed despite the threat of a ban being imposed on offshore drilling in Ireland, writes Geoff Percival.

The State has received only around €104m in royalty payments from the operator of the Kinsale and Ballycotton gas fields off the coast of Cork since 1998, new figures show.

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.

Shares in Irish-focused exploration company Europa Oil and Gas jumped by up to 15% yesterday on the back of the London-based company raising an extra £1.3m (€1.47m) through an open offer of its shares.

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.

Exploration-related activity in Irish waters is set to heat up further in the coming months with a new multi-client 3D seismic survey to be undertaken off the west coast.

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.

Providence Resources — the Tony O’Reilly Jr-led exploration company — has named former Tullow Oil senior executive Pat Plunkett as its chairman.

British exploration company Europa Oil and Gas has started the search for a partner company to help develop one of its “riskier” assets in Irish waters.

Irish-linked exploration stocks wavered yesterday after leading international energy research and consultancy group Wood Mackenzie warned most major conventional oil projects risk being delayed or cancelled if global prices remain at or below $50 a barrel.

Two exploration firms have formally been granted full ownership status by the Department of Natural Resources of Irish assets they previously co-owned with US explorer Kosmos Energy, which pulled out of Ireland in order to focus on its African assets last year.

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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.

British exploration firm Europa Oil and Gas is hopeful of landing a development partner for licences it holds off the Irish coast before the end of the year.

Commercial oil production from offshore Irish licences will not become a reality until at least 2023, one leading player has said.

British explorer Europa Oil and Gas has said the current oil price environment is not hampering its efforts to find development partners for assets it holds in Ireland and elsewhere.

Low prices pose major challenge for sector, writes Geoff Percival.   

Europa Oil and Gas is set to raise around £3.4m (€4.8m) via a share placing and open offer, with proceeds partially being earmarked to fund its activities in Irish waters.

UK exploration firm, Europa Oil and Gas has confirmed it will seek to increase its Irish acreage by bidding for more prospects in this year’s Atlantic Margin licensing round.

A decision is due before the end of June on whether highly anticipated drilling activity on Irish exploration assets jointly held by US company Kosmos Energy and UK player Europa Oil and Gas will begin in the next year.

British exploration firm Europa Oil and Gas is to focus on adding prospects in Irish waters as part of its expansion, its management stated yesterday.

British exploration firm, Europa Oil and Gas has said it definitely intends to participate in the Government’s 2015 Atlantic Margin licensing round and hopes to begin drilling at its existing assets, off the west coast, during 2016.

British-based exploration firm Europa Oil and Gas — which has interests off the west coast of Ireland — expects to meet annual production targets this year, despite suffering a 4.5% year-on-year drop in first-half revenues and a near 4% decline in production.

Oil exploration drilling programmes off the Irish coast are expected to increase materially in the coming years, according to Davy Stockbrokers, who view the entry of Kosmos Energy as a potential game changer in Irish oil exploration.