Irish oil well could contain 1.6bn barrels, boosting Scottish investor

IRISH oil explorer Providence Resources believes its Barryroe well off the coast of Cork could contain up to 1.6 billion barrels of oil – four times what it had originally estimated.

Following tests carried out in March, Aim-quoted Providence yesterday said between one billion and 1.6 billion barrels may be present at Barryroe, which could become Ireland’s first commercially-viable oil well.

The firm is currently exploring six potential oil fields off the coast of Ireland, including Rathlin island, which lies in Northern Irish waters.

Shares in Providence were given a boost by the news, while Lansdowne Oil & Gas, which owns 20 per cent of the Barryroe field, closed down having risen in early trading. Aberdeen-based oil and gas investment vehicle SeaEnergy holds a 25 per cent stake in Lansdowne.

Shares in both Providence and Lansdowne have risen in recent weeks after the extent of the Barryroe field began to emerge. The rising share price had threatened to de-rail a share buy-back scheme at SeaEnergy, because directors of the Aberdeen company were worried they had not set the buy-back price high enough.

Yet shareholders at yesterday’s SeaEnergy general meeting voted in favour of the buy-back scheme. Some 28.7 million shares were offered up by investors, 150 per cent above the level set by the company. SeaEnergy said about 19.2 million shares would be bought back, returning £6.9 million to investors.

l Xcite Energy, the Aberdeen-based driller, said losses for the six months to 30 June were flat at £300,000.