By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Oct. 9 -- EnCore Oil PLC and Island Oil & Gas PLC, London, plan to jointly develop their exploration and near-development portfolios in Ireland and the UK.
Island Oil granted EnCore exclusive options to acquire as much as a 20% working interest in the Island-operated frontier exploration license 1/04 in the Porcupine basin in the Atlantic Ocean 150 km off western Ireland. The options, for 10% interest each, are exercisable by Nov. 20, 2006, and Jan. 10, 2007.
The license contains undeveloped Connemara oil field, discovered in 1979 and estimated by one intervening operating to have 200 million bbl of oil in place. Reservoirs are about 9,000 ft subsea in 1,200 ft of water.
Island Oil said development prospects have improved due to higher quality 2D and 3D seismic imaging that found areas less faulted than previously interpreted and a reservoir study that indicates that several of the main oil-bearing sands may be more continuous than previously interpreted.