PROVIDENCE Resources is set to enter the lucrative gas storage and trading market and double its daily oil production levels after winning an option to buy a significant share in part of the former Irish assets of international exploration company, Marathon Oil.

ISLAND Oil & Gas has said exploration investment will largely be shelved in favour of increasing its gas storage facilities.

KARL PRENDERVILLE Prenderville has stepped down as commercial director at Irish exploration company, Island Oil & Gas in order to focus on other business interests.

PROVIDENCE Resources, controlled by the family of Independent News & Media boss, Tony O’Reilly, has secured a new licence close to the Seven Heads Gas Field off Kinsale.

LANSDOWNE Oil & Gas, the anglo-Irish exploration company, has partially farmed -out one of its drilling licenses in the Celtic Sea to Dublin company Island Oil & Gas.

ISLAND Oil & Gas currently assessing gas finds off Kinsale and Schull made an operating profit of Stg£904.000 (€1.12m) against a loss last time of £5.39m (€6.7m) for the six months to 31 January, 2008.

MINISTER for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan yesterday announced the awarding of the four oil and gas exploration licences in the Porcupine Basin area off the west coast of Ireland, initially put out to tender last year.

IRISH exploration company, Island Oil & Gas said yesterday its main focus this year will be on developing its assets in Holland — the Amstel Oil Field — and off the Irish coast at Schull and the Old Head of Kinsale.

DUBLIN-based exploration company, Island Oil & Gas has assumed total control — via its Island International Exploration BV subsidiary — of the Durresi Block prospect located off the coast of Albania.

Island Oil & Gas has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Island International Exploration BV (IIEBV) has acquired the remaining 50% equity interest in the Durresi Block off the coast of Albania.

ISLAND Oil & Gas, the Dublin- headquartered exploration company is expanding its international presence to eastern Europe.

GLENCAR MINING, the AIM and IEX listed company with gold exploration interests in Africa, said yesterday a preliminary independent resource study by SRK Consulting (Britain) has reported a mineral resource of 520,000 ounces of gold at Komana West in Mali.

HOPES are again being raised of a major gas find in a huge area in the Atlantic, about 150km off the west and south coasts.

PAN Andean Resources, the Dublin-headquartered oil and gas exploration company, has announced the successful drilling of one of its wells off the coast of Texas in the Gulf of Mexico. The well was drilled by the company’s farm-in partner Phoenix Exploration to the target depth of 8,700ft and encountered three zones of gas-bearing sands.

Island Oil & Gas plc has today announced that the company's asset swap agreement with OMV has received the relevant governmental and partner approvals.

ISLAND Oil & Gas has announced that it is in the process of reorganising its Board of Directors to, it said, reflect its position as a successful operator offshore Ireland.

PROVIDENCE Resources has taken delivery of the Petrolia semi-submersible drilling rig from Island Oil & Gas in anticipation of its upcoming appraisal drilling programme at the Hook Head prospect in the Celtic Sea.

NATURAL resource explorer, Island Oil & Gas said its latest drilling results in its Schull gas field off west Cork were better than expected.

EnCore Oil announced that the Old Head of Kinsale gas appraisal well operated by Island Oil & Gas in the Celtic Sea has reached total depth.

Island Oil & Gas plc today announced that it has begunwhich the first of this year’s drilling programme on Exploration Licence 4/05 at the Old Head of Kinsale.

Island will assign Valhalla Oil and Gas Limited a 20% interest in the Old Head of Kinsale gas field, reducing Island’s interest to 80%, it was announced today.

ISLAND Oil & Gas has announced it has been granted a licence in the Zag Basin off the coast of Morocco.

ISLAND Oil & Gas incurred losses before tax of £400,000 (€591,900) for the year to the end of July, up from £100,000 (€149,000) the previous year, as increased exploration costs swamped earnings from gas sales.

Gas extracted off coast of Kinsale has edged revenue for exploration company Island Oil & Gas upwards, according to its preliminary results for the year ended 31, July 2006.

INTERNATIONAL companies given licences this month to explore potentially lucrative sections of Irish water for oil and gas will each have to pay less than €10,000 a year for the privilege.

ISLAND Oil & Gas is to start drilling off the Donegal coast within days, it was confirmed yesterday.

EXPLORATION firm Island Oil & Gas says it has made a significant gas discovery off the Cork coast.

THE recent call by the Government’s think tank for the State to at least look at the nuclear option in terms of future energy needs should have sent shockwaves across the country.

IRISH exploration group Petroceltic benefited significantly from the sharp rise in gas prices over the past 12 months as its revenue from the Kinsale gas royalty more than doubled in 2005.