Drilling for oil

INFRASTRATA, the firm which hopes to storage natural gas in salt caverns at Islandmagee, says the Larne Lough-Lough Neagh Basin may be “one of the few remaining areas in the UK with the potential for the discovery of a giant oil field”.

The company has secured a Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) petroleum exploration licence to proceed with studies that have shown there may be “significant untapped potential” 13,000 feet below the surface.

InfraStrata, which recently attracted the £10 million investment funding it requires for a UK exploration programme, has been granted leave to conduct seismic surveys over five years, with a decision on drilling a well required within three years.

The company believes the area holds “significant untapped potential with a prospective sedimentary section of over 4,000 metres in the most deeply buried parts of the basin below the basalt”.

Andrew Hindle, CEO of InfraStrata plc, said: “We believe that it is one of the few remaining areas in the UK with the potential for the discovery of a giant field.”

Related topics: