Lansdowne Oil & Gas, the independent oil and gas company focused on offshore Ireland, has lost its licences in the Celtic Sea, offshore the south coast of Ireland.
Namely, the company’s attempts to farm out portion of ownership in the Standard Exploration Licences 5/07 (Rosscarbery) and 5/08 (Amergin) have been unsuccessful, and the licences have lapsed.
The licence SEL 5/07, located near the Kinsale Head gas field, contains the Galley head gas discovery, and SE Rosscarbery and Rosscarbery prospects.
The second licence SEL 5/08, containing the the Amergin prospect, is located on the north-western flank of the North Celtic Sea Basin. The company acquired 3D seismic over the Amergin structure in 2011, which, Lansdowne said, resulted in much better imaging of the Amergin structure and confirmed the prospect as ” a robust structural closure ready for drilling”.
However, in an explanation on Monday, Lansdowne said: “Due to adverse industry conditions, attempts to farm-out SEL 5/07, containing the Rosscarbery and SE Rosscarbery gas prospects, and SEL 5/08, containing the Amergin prospect, have been unsuccessful. As Lansdowne has not been able to demonstrate that drilling will be achieved in 2016 these licences have lapsed with effect from 31 December 2015.”