Fastnet Oil & Gas has initiated a farm-out process to help cover the cost of its forthcoming $18m (€14m) surveying activity in the Celtic Sea, which will be the biggest of its kind ever undertaken in the area.

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.

The ISEQ-index of Irish shares has finally closed the doors on a miserable day for market trading as share prices experience a major slump in most sectors this afternoon.

The Iseq had a sluggish morning after news that the price of oil reached its highest point since December.

The Iseq-listed oil & gas exploration and production company, Providence, has today announced that it has been granted a new exploration licence in the Celtic Sea Basin.