Irish oil explorer Providence Resources said today it had been offered an “option licence” in the Irish Sea close to its Barryroe discovery.
The licence, which gives Providence, with 20% partner Lansdowne Oil and Gas, two years in which to change it to a full exploration licence, covers five part blocks is in the Celtic Sea off the south coast of Ireland.
Last month Providence said Barryroe could have more than a billion barrels of oil in place.
Tony O’Reilly, chief executive of Providence, said: “We are extremely pleased to have been offered this option over a substantial acreage position directly north and west of the currently-defined Barryroe oil field.
“This new option has increased our acreage position in the most prospective central part of the basin.
“Our work programme has been designed to assess the potential of any extensions of the Barryroe field into the option area, together with determining whether any further satellite accumulations may exist close to the field that warrant investigation.”