Oil and gas independent Cairn Energy said today it had bought into two frontier fields west of Ireland in the Porcupine basin.
The deal will see the Edinburgh-based explorer paying an initial £2.6million to owner Chrysaor for back costs on the fields, with an agreement to cover 63.33% of future exploration and appraisal costs for the two wells, subject to a cap.
Cairn will become operator of both projects which contain the undeveloped Spanish Point gas condensate and Burren oil discoveries.
The news comes after Cairn said earlier this year it was looking to spend up to £1.25billion on new developments in the North Sea over the next five years and restart exploration offshore Greenland next year.
Drilling of the first appraisal well on Spanish Point is targeted for the second quarter of next year.
Simon Thomson, chief executive of Cairn, said: “The addition of this prospective acreage off the west coast of Ireland in the Porcupine Basin brings further exploration and appraisal potential to Cairn’s frontier Atlantic Margin portfolio. Our operated, multi-well exploration programme, for which a rig has been secured, will start later this year in Morocco.”