Irish oil and gas exploration firm Providence Resources has been offered a follow-on Frontier License (FEL) on the Newgrange area.
Newgrange lies in about 1000m water depth in the Goban Spur basin, 260 km off the south west coast of Ireland.
The new FEL 6/14 on Newgrange includes a requirement to acquire 1000km 2D seismic.
Providence said survey planning has already started and that subsurface studies carried out during the license option period highlighted clastic and carbonate exploration prospectivity within the Jurassic and Cretaceous intervals respectively.
"Seismic interpretation of 2D reflection profile data have revealed the presence of two large stacked four-way structural closures at both Base Cenozoic (Top Cretaceous) and Base Cretaceous levels covering a c.1000sq km area," Providence says.
The previously drilled 62/7-1, c.30km from the Newgrange prospect and was drilled down-structure, encountered hydrocarbon shows in sands of Lower Jurassic age./p>
John O’Sullivan, technical director of Providence said: “Previous drilling has highlighted the prospectivity within the Jurassic and Cretaceous intervals of the Porcupine Basin, with much current industry focus on these Mesozoic play systems. The recent Dunquin North exploration well has proven that oil has been generated in the adjacent southern Porcupine Basin which flanks the Goban Spur and that Cretaceous carbonates can provide high porosity massive reservoir systems. The new 2D seismic program is being designed to de-risk the Newgrange prospect at both prospective levels and should provide the critical data in order to advance this material prospect towards drilling.”
Providence Resources (80%, Operator) and Sosina Exploration (20%) were awarded Newgrange as part of the 2011 Irish Atlantic Margin Licensing Round.