3D seismic surveying operations have commenced on Frontier Exploration Licence (FEL) 1/14 (Spanish Point South) in the northern Porcupine Basin, offshore Ireland.
The license, operated by Cairn Energy subsidiary Capricon Ireland, is in 300-650m water depth, about 140km off the west coast of Ireland.
The new 3D seismic survey is planned to cover about 750sq km and is being acquired using Dolphin Geophysical’s M/V Sanco Sword (pictured).
The survey has been designed to target the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous reservoir intervals which successfully tested gas condensate and oil from the Spanish Point (35/8-2) and Burren (35/8-1) discoveries, respectively in the adjacent acreage to the north, said partner Providence Resources.
There have been four previous wells drilled in the Spanish Point South area, all of which have encountered hydrocarbon shows. The current best estimate of gross on-block unrisked prospective recoverable resources is 350MMboe. This is separate from the quoted recoverable resources for the Spanish Point discovery (located in FEL 2/04 and which is planned to be drilled in 2015) and FEL 4/08.
Spanish Point South is operated by Capricorn Ireland, which holds 38% equity, with partners Providence Resources (32%), Chrysaor E&P Ireland (26%) & Sosina Exploration (4%). The partnership also holds the adjacent FEL’s 2/04 and 4/08.
John O’Sullivan technical director of Providence said: “This new 3D seismic survey over the Spanish Point South area is our third such program in this part of the basin since 2009. When combined, these new data will allow for a comprehensive re-evaluation of the total hydrocarbon resource potential of this area, where previous wells have successfully tested both oil and gas. We believe that the key risk is reservoir quality, rather than hydrocarbon presence, and so we consider that modern high quality 3D seismic imaging will be a significant tool in reservoir prediction.”
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