Aerial survey for oil deposits

It follows a successful drill in 2008 near Coleraine, which identified high quality oil but which was not commercially viable.

The company has advised that an airborne survey of Limavady, Coleraine, Moyle and Ballymoney started on Monday and is due to conclude within one week.

The survey is designed to identify naturally occurring mineral deposits and it is hoped the data gathered will help enhance understanding of natural resources and inform commercial investment plans in the North West.

Rathlin says the survey aircraft has two propeller engines and carries equipment which will provide gravity and magnetic information on the bedrock and its composition. The aircraft will fly in straight parallel lines across the region at an approximate height of one hundred metres.

Rathlin Energy Limited is a company registered in Northern Ireland. It was formed in 2007 to undertake oil and natural gas exploration activities in the province

It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sunderland Holdings Limited, a private company registered in Jersey, Channel Islands, which is in turn, wholly owned by Connaught Oil and Gas Limited, a private company based in Calgary, Canada.

In Northern Ireland a joint Rathlin/Mancal exploration well drilled in 2008 tested high quality oil which, although not of itself commercial, represented the first such discovery onshore Ireland and bodes well for the company’s future program of work