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Cork could be ‘Europe hub for oil and gas’

Posted: December 17, 2013

From the Irish Examiner

Thursday, December 12, 2013

 

The founder and chief executive of Providence Resources, Tony O’Reilly, believes Cork could rival Aberdeen as a European hub for oil and gas exploration — if the county embraces the industry.

 

Providence’s Barryroe oil field could be pumping oil as early as 2018 and Cork will be on track to become an oil and gas hub, if people in the services industry make the investment of time and effort to install the full suite of service industries, he said.

Mr O’Reilly said people in the oil industry in Aberdeen are “very aware that Ireland is taking off and that Cork is going to be the place”.

He called for information sharing with the Scottish city. “I don’t know if you have ever been to Aberdeen, but Cork is a lot nicer and you have the tax rate here.”

Despite praising Ireland’s corporate tax rate, he took issue with a portrayal that Ireland’s oil and gas resources have been given away.

He argued that while the tax on extractive industries in Ireland was lower than in Norway and the UK, that is because they have proven industries in place.

Mr O’Reilly said that “Norway produces 2m barrels of oil every day hence they have a 78% tax rate; the UK a million-plus barrels a day; Ireland zero. Now hopefully we are going to change that, but you have to see it in that context.”

Referring to a report commissioned by Providence, Mr O’Reilly said: “The tax take from a field the size of Barryroe at the 40% tax that some people think is a giveaway, €4.5bn over its lifetime. That is just the corporation tax revenue. There is also the employment and all the associated benefits. That is equivalent to the whole corporate tax take in Ireland in 2011; that is just from one field.”

Mr O’Reilly said he is “evangelical” about promoting Ireland as the next frontier of oil and gas. He believes the stable political climate and government attitude will allow Ireland to emerge from the shadow of the North Sea.

“The activity like we are leading with Providence coupled with the proactive stance of the Government… coupled with the geopolitical climate in Ireland; you have got to understand that the majority of the oil in the world is in not nice places.

“This is a lovely place, I mean, we had guys working on the rig in Barryroe who could fly back into Cork and go play some golf at the Old Head. You can’t do that in Kurdistan”.

© Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved

By Vincent Ryan
Business Reporter

http://www.irishexaminer.com/business/cork-could-be-europe-hub-for-oil-and-gas-252399.html

IMG_2227

 

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Call not to Raise Oil/Gas Tax Take

Posted: July 29, 2013

Monday, July 29, 2013 by Geoff Percival- Irish Examiner

 “The main representative body for Ireland’s exploration industry has called for the Government to hold back on plans to increase the potential tax take from companies drilling for oil and gas in Irish waters.

As it currently stands, the Government stands to receive between 25% and 40% of profits from any commercial field in Irish waters — of which there are currently none (although Barryroe, in the Celtic Sea, is on course to be the first).

However, Natural Resources Minister Pat Rabbitte recently said that he intends to seek independent expert advice, by the end of this year, on what level of fiscal gain should be achieved by Ireland and how the State should go about achieving it.

A recent Joint Oireachtas Committee called for the profit take to be as high as 80%, which would mirror the Norwegian model.

However, while it takes 78% of the profit from any commercial field in its waters, Norway — as well as having a more mature and developed offshore exploration industry than Ireland — also repays the same percentage of drilling costs to companies if said field is found to be dry; something Ireland — in current economic times — could not do.

At the end of a week that has seen international oil giant ExxonMobil put an indefinite pause on its interest in Ireland by finding no sign of any commercial hydrocarbons at initial drill at the highly-anticipated Dunquin field off the south-west coast of the country, the Irish Offshore Operators’ Association has called for a rethink by Government.

“We think the Government should be cautious in its approach,” said Fergus Cahill, chairman of the Irish Offshore Operators’ Association.

“It would be a great mistake to change the fiscal terms at this stage, especially in light of Dunquin, and at a time when we are just beginning to see more activity in Irish waters and more companies come in,” he added.”

http://www.irishexaminer.com/business/call-not-to-raise-oilgas-tax-take-238196.html

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Contract to Assess Oil Potential

Posted: May 13, 2013

From The Irish Examiner – By Geoff Percival

The Government is set to announce details of a major research contract to assess Ireland’s true oil and gas potential in the coming weeks, with industry rumours suggesting Italian giant Eni could be signed up as project partner.

The project will focus on a seismic survey off the west coast, to judge the oil and gas reserve potential of the under-explored Atlantic Margin area.

While the provision of “relevant depth of seismic data”, formed part of the recommendations from last week’s Providence Resources/PwC study into the potential of the Irish offshore sector, this seismic tender has been in the Government’s plans for nearly a year.

There has been speculation that Eni could be signing up to invest around €70m in carrying out the study, but the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources has been tight- lipped over the details.

A department spokesperson said that the procurement process has concluded and project planning is at an “advanced stage”. “It is anticipated that an announcement will be made shortly,” they added.

Minister of State at the Department, Fergus O’Dowd, first announced the intention to tender for a seismic data specialist to undertake the detailed survey last year, when addressing the Atlantic Ireland Conference in Dublin.

Speaking then, he said that such a survey would be “a huge step forward” and would go a long way to revealing the true potential of Ireland’s frontier basins.

The real genesis of the programme was the Government’s 2011 Atlantic Margin Licensing Round, which attracted a positive response from industry but still resulted in large areas on offer receiving no applications, despite being located in basins containing proven petroleum systems.

A lack of available seismic data was viewed as a significant contributing factor that needed to be addressed, according to Government. The small number of exploration wells drilled in Irish waters, over the past decade, has been blamed on low levels of available intelligence, with poor seismic data coverage previously described by Government as “the biggest impediment to exploration”.

Last week’s PwC study into the potential of Ireland’s offshore exploration industry suggested that thousands of jobs could be created per year and the Exchequer could significantly increase its annual corporate tax take if certain existing barriers to entry, for overseas players, are removed.

“The oil and gas industry has the potential to transform local and national economies, but a critical mass of activity is needed before a substantial indigenous supply base can develop,” it said.

Extract From http://www.irishexaminer.com/business/contract-to-assess-oil-potential-231055.html

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Europa acquires licence for South Porcupine basin, offshore Ireland.

Posted: April 19, 2013

From Offshoretechnology.com 19/04/2013

Europa has signed a farm-in agreement with a subsidiary of Kosmos Energy to acquire its two Licencing Options, LO 11/7 and LO 11/8, in the South Porcupine Basin, offshore of Ireland.

As part of the deal, Kosmos will buy an 85% interest and take up the operatorship of both licences, alongside incurring 100% of the costs of the first exploration well on each block.

The company will also fully fund the cost of a 3D seismic programme on each licence and pay 85% of the costs incurred by Europa to date.

The first exploration wells on LO 11/7 and LO 11/8 have investment caps of $90m and $110m, respectively, while Kosmos will share 85% of the excess costs of the investment cap, with the remaining coming from Europa.

Both LO 11/7 and LO 11/8 cover an area of about 1,000km² each in the prospective South Porcupine basin, while the licences have been mapped using existing 2D seismic data and are currently undrilled.

“The company will also fully fund the cost of a 3D seismic programme on each licence and pay 85% of the costs incurred by Europa.”

Europa has identified two previously unknown prospects in the Lower Cretaceous stratigraphic play – Mullen in LO 11/7 and Kiernan in LO 11/8.

Europa CEO, Hugh Mackay, said Kosmos is an experienced operator in frontier basins and pioneered the Cretaceous stratigraphic play that lead to a major exploration success in the Atlantic margin basins.

“The farm-in provides recognition of the substantial potential value lying in our Irish exploration prospects. The work programme associated with the farm-in has the potential to deliver significant value realisation,” Mackay added.

“Europa’s retained 15% interest exposes the company to substantial upside in the event of drilling success at either or both of these prospects at a much reduced risk and cost to our shareholders.

“We understand that the Eirik Raude rig is in Irish waters to drill Exxon‘s Dunquin well. An exciting new chapter in the exploration of Ireland is starting and we are delighted to be part of it.”

The closing of the farm-in agreement is subject to approval from the Irish Government.”

http://www.offshore-technology.com/news/newseuropa-exploration-south-porcupine-basin-ireland?WT.mc_id=DN_News

 

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‘Several hundred million barrels’ of oil may lie in new Petrel site off Kerry

Posted: April 4, 2013

Tuesday 04/04/2013

“AN EXPLORATION COMPANY with rights to explore an area off the west coast of Co Kerry claims the field has shown the potential to hold hundreds of millions of barrels worth of oil.

 

Petrel Resources says the site in ‘Quad 45′, about 100 kilometres to the west of Valentia Island, has “the capability to hold several hundred million barrels of in-place oil”.

 

The site was authorised for exploration in 2011, when 13 various sites in the Porcupine Basin off the west coast were offered for new ventures.

 

Petrel was offered two of those sites; the other site in ‘Quad 35′, about 120 kilometres west of the Dingle peninsula, showed the capability of hosting in excess of a billion barrels of oil.

 

Quad 45 lies about 35 kilometres northeast of an area in the Dunquin prospect, which is already the focus of a major prospective drilling operation from a consortium led by Exxon Mobil.

Petrel said it had purchased additional seismic data of the area and has carried out further regional seismic mapping.

“We have long believed that the offshore Porcupine Basin is a hydrocarbon province,” Petrel managing director David Horgan said in a media release.

“This has been further supported by our recent work in identifying potential prospects on both of our blocks.

“We look forward to increased activities across the Basin which we believe has the potential to be a major new oil province. We have commenced our search for potential partners.”

Shares in Petrel rose by over 10 per cent in early trading in London this morning.”

Extract from thejournal.ie

http://businessetc.thejournal.ie/oil-porcupine-basin-kerry-petrel-853171-Apr2013/

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