French oil major Total has applied to Ireland’s authorities to convert licensing option (LO) 16/27 into a frontier exploration license (FEL).
The block, located 150 kilometers off the south-west coast of Ireland, contains the undrilled Avalon exploration prospect.
Total E&P Ireland is the operator of the block with a 50 percent stake. The partners in the license are Providence Resources and Sosina Exploration Limited with 40 and 10 percent, respectively.
Providence said on Wednesday that the JV partners elected to apply to the Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Climate Action, and Environment to convert LO 16/27 into a FEL.
John O’Sullivan , technical director at Providence, said: “We are very pleased that the JV Partners, under the operatorship of Total, have elected to convert the Avalon licensing option into a frontier exploration license.”
To remind, Total farmed into and took over operatorship of Providence’s LO 16/27 in October 2017 .
According to the terms of the farm-in deal, if the JV partners agree to convert LO 16/27 into a frontier exploration license, and a subsequent decision is taken to drill an exploration well, Total will pay 60 percent of drilling costs, subject to a gross well cap of $42 million.