Oil and gas explorer Petrel has been given the go-ahead for work in the potentially lucrative Porcupine Basin off Ireland.
The Irish-focused firm has been awarded two exploration licences for the basin, which has been tipped as a potential billion-barrel hotspot for oil companies.
The 15-year licences will see the firm carrying out reprocessing of historic 3D seismic and environmental data, along with new 3D scans of the region.
“Past explorers have generally applied ‘North Sea type’ approaches without sufficient regard to the different geology of the Atlantic Margin,” said Petrel managing director David Horgan.
“Petrel had already identified a number of geological plays on this acreage, justifying additional technical work.
“Our operating partners, Woodside, have brought additional ideas, based on their technical expertise and past successes elsewhere. The next phase of the work programme is already underway.”
Last year the company farmed out operatorship of the prospects to Woodside Energy. Scans on the three-year first phase of the project are expected to take up to three years, with drilling planned for phase two.
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