A new partner has agreed to join the Irish licence covering the Spanish Point prospect in the Porcupine Basin off the west coast of Ireland which could see two new wells drilled in the future.
Prospect partners Providence Resources and Sosina Exploration have agreed the deal with privately-owned Chrysaor Holdings Limited under which Chrysaor will initially fund a 3D seismic programme over Spanish Point to earn an initial 30% stake in the discovery.
Subject to the completion of further appraisal milestones including the drilling of two wells, Chrysaor can earn up to 70% equity in the prospect, bringing Spanish Point closer to development.
Spanish Point was discovered by a consortium including Philips Petroleum and Atlantic Petroleum back in 1981 and the 35/8-2 discovery well tested at 1,000 b/d of oil and 5 MMcf/d of gas after hitting a total hydrocarbon column of426 m (1,400 ft).
It was declared uneconomic at the time and the licence was relinquished, then held by Chevron who also gave up the area in 2001 when Providence acquired the licence area.
Spanish Point is in blocks 35/8 and 35/9 in Frontier Exploration Licence 2/04, and is located 200 km (125 miles) off the west coast of Ireland in water depths ranging from 300 to 400 m (656 – 1,312 ft).
Phil Kirk, Chrysaor’s chief executive said: “’We’re very pleased to be joining the Providence led group and hope our own experience can help to create a successful development of the Spanish Point discovery. Providence and its partners have a good technical understanding of the potential of Spanish Point, which the group can now capitalise on through a step-by-step appraisal programme.”