Drilling on the Spanish Point gas discovery in the northern Porcupine Basin offshore Ireland has again been set back.
Operator Cairn Energy said today (10 March) that the well, planned for 1H this year, had been "deferred pending discussions with partners and the Government of the Republic of Ireland."
A well had been planned on Spanish Point, in Frontier Exploration License 2/04, 175km off the coast of western Ireland, initially in 2014, but this was set back by extensive delays in the refurbishment of the semisubmersible Blackford Dolphin drilling rig (pictured), which had been scheduled to drill the well, meaning that drilling operations would not be able to start until at least October that year, pushing the Spanish Point drilling operations into the winter period.
Cairn had then rescheduled the well for 1H 2015. Tony O’Reilly, Chief Executive of Providence said: “This delay to drilling follows recent unforeseen changes to the make-up of the joint venture and the consequent delay to the securing of equipment and other necessary requirements. As stated previously, Providence’s involvement in the well was subject not only to equipment availability, but also to either further financing or concluding a farm out with a third-party company. Discussions with interested third parties in relation to Spanish Point continue and further announcements will be issued, as appropriate.”
A 900sq km 3D seismic survey was completed in Q3 2014 on acreage adjacent to the Spanish Point discovery.
An extensive 2D seismic survey was also due to this month, covering Spanish Point. The Echidna Regional Broadband 2D seismic survey, to be carried out by Searcher Seismic, comprises of approximately 9000km of high quality, long offset broadband 2D seismic data. It will be the first comprehensive well-tie survey covering the Atlantic Margin off western Ireland. The survey will cover the Goban Spur, Porcupine and Slyne basins, and includes well-tie to over 30 exploration wells.
The survey also incorporates the Connemara and Burren oil fields and the Spanish Point gas discovery. Fast track data expected is expected to be ready in time for evaluation of the Irish bid round.
Capricorn Ireland Limited (38%, Operator (wholly owned subsidiary of Cairn Energy PLC)) operates the license on behalf of its partners, Providence Resources (58%), and Sosina Exploration (4%).
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