Irish gas storage firm Infrastrata has secured funding drill a well at the Woodburn Forest project, onshore Northern Ireland.
The company announced last November that together with Brigantes it was seeking to farmout a 60% interest in licence PL1/10 to pay the outstanding 80% required to complete the funding of the Woodburn Forest-1 well.
Drilling is expected to begin in a few weeks’ time.
Chief executive Andrew Hindle, said: “This is the culmination of five years of hard work by InfraStrata and its joint venture partners.”
“With Northern Ireland dependent upon imported oil and gas, the development of an oil and gas industry could have a very positive impact on its economy.
“The technical evaluation of the area has confirmed the presence of numerous prospects within the Larne-Lough Neagh Basin of Northern Ireland. There are three target conventional sandstone reservoir intervals, the Triassic Sherwood, Permian Lower Permian Sandstone and Carboniferous Sandstones.
“With Northern Ireland dependent upon imported oil and gas, the development of an oil and gas industry could have a very positive impact on its economy.”
InfraStrata estimates that the drilling of a deep borehole, Islandmagee-1, for its gas storage project in 2015 resulted in approximately £800,000 invested with local services and contractors. The company said it expects a similar situation with the Woodburn Forest-1 well.