Europa O&G takes operatorship in two licences offshore Ireland

Oil and gas company Europa Oil & Gas has received consent from the Irish Minister of Energy for the transfer of interest and operatorship of Frontier Exploration Licences (FEL) 2/13 and 3/13, offshore Ireland, from Kosmos Energy.

Europa O&G said on Monday that it now holds 100 percent interest in, and is the operator of seven licences in the Atlantic basins offshore Ireland.

The company’s portfolio includes seven offshore Ireland licences estimated to hold a combined gross mean unrisked prospective and indicative resources of up to 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent and 1.5 tcf of gas in various prospects in the Cretaceous fan and pre-rift plays.

Europa also stated that it is currently looking to farm-out interests in FEL 2/13, FEL 3/13 and LO 16/2. The consent received from the Ministry of Energy removes any obstacle for target companies to apply for the farm-out of the FELs.

Europa CEO, Hugh Mackay, said: “We believe that the North Atlantic contains two of the world’s exploration ‘hotspots.’ One is in the Flemish Pass basin offshore Newfoundland, and the other is offshore West Ireland. We are delighted that major oil companies have returned to Ireland’s Porcupine basin. We are focused on finding a suitable partner with whom we can look to prove our existing licenses via the drill bit.”

Kosmos Energy announced its intention to withdraw from three licences located offshore Ireland, FEL 1/13, FEL 2/13 and FEL 3/13, in September 2015.

Following Kosmos’ exit, Europa announced its intention to assume 100% interest in licences FEL 2/13 and FEL 3/13, and Antrim Energy asked for a 100 percent working interest in FEL 1/13.

As reported earlier today, Antrim also completed the transfer of interest and operatorship in FEL 1/13 from Kosmos.