Northern Ireland
A group of independents was preparing for further geophysical analysis on the 86,485-acre South Larne license in northeasternmost Northern Ireland.
On completion of the geophysical reappraisal, license interests will be Avery Resources Inc., Calgary, 50%, Antrim Energy Inc., Calgary, 37.5%, and Bard Ventures Ltd., Vancouver, BC, 12.5%. Antrim earlier acquired 100 km of seismic data and drilled a slim hole stratigraphic test through Triassic sandstone under extensive Tertiary basalt cover. South Larne is in the second year of a 5-year exploration term.
The Triassic sandstone lies along a trend between Corrib gas field off Ireland's west coast and Morecambe Bay gas field in the East Irish Sea. A gas pipeline runs 1 km from the license.
Nicaragua
The government awarded Infinity Inc., Chanute, Kan., 24 blocks encompassing 2 million acres in the country's first international licensing round.
Negotiations to finalize the awards are to begin soon, the work would begin after environmental studies are conducted, the company said.
The blocks are in less than 200 m of water south of territory claimed by Honduras and west of territory claimed by Colombia.
The acreage offers play potential in Eocene and in the deeper Cretaceous, said Jeff Roberts, Infinity exploration manager.
No Nicaraguan well has penetrated the Cretaceous, but the Nicaraguan shelf is surrounded by world class giant oil fields that produce from Cretaceous, Infinity said (OGJ, Feb. 14, 2000, p. 72).
