The developers of a giant oil field in the Celtic Sea insist they are on track to farm out the site to partners – despite weekend reports to the contrary.
Providence Resources and Lansdowne Oil and Gas are hunting for potential partners to help develop the Barryroe field in the Celtic Sea, south of Cork.
The field, which is thought to contain almost 350million barrels of oil equivalent, has been rated the equivalent of a North Sea find, despite no successful attempts to commercialise it since the 1970s.
Reports from Irish news outlets at the weekend claimed Providence, which owns 80% of the field, was facing delays of more than a year in finding a partner after being required to drill a new appraisal well on the prospect.
Media reports said the companies faced a $40million drilling operation, which was not affordable this year.
Providence hit back in a statement to investors, saying it had not talked to the media over the project.
“Providence provided an update as to the status of the Barryroe farm-out in its end of year statement in December 2013 and considers that there has been no material change to the outlook presented at that time,” the company said.
“As publicly stated, Providence’s strategy for the future appraisal and development of the Barryroe oil field is to co-venture with a suitable financially and technically capable third party. The parties with which Providence is currently in discussions include major Asian, European and North American oil companies.”
However, the firm admitted that an element of further appraisal work was likely and had formed a part of negotiations with potential partners.
“Given the current pre-development nature of the Barryroe project, an element of further appraisal drilling has always formed an essential part of these discussions,” it said.
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