Ireland Operations

CELTIC SEA

Standard Exploration Licence 3/07 (72.5% interest)

BLACKROCK

The Blackrock prospect lies in about 100m of water some 35 km south of the Marathon-operated Kinsale Head gas field. The area is held under SEL 3/07, which was granted in March 2007 for a six-year term. A well drilled by Esso in 1973 (48/30-1) on the north flank of the structure encountered oil-bearing Lower Cretaceous sands over a gross 100-foot interval. An appraisal well drilled in 2004 (49/26-1a), located some 8 km east of the Esso well, encountered excellent reservoirs and seals in the target zone but did not encounter significant hydrocarbons.

The work programme to date, comprising the 2005 long offset 2D seismic programme together with the 2006 Ocean Bottom Seismic (OBS) survey, confirms the presence of a substantial fault and dip-closed anticlinal structure with three separate target reservoir intervals. In addition to the OBS data, multi-channel reflection seismic data were acquired along two transects over the crest of the Blackrock structure. These lines indicate that the crestal area is larger than had been previously mapped and also indicates the possible presence of a gas chimney. These encouraging data will be factored into the assessment of future drilling plans and locations.