Italian giant Eni has gained operatorship of frontier exploration licence (FEL) 3/04 in the southern Porcupine Basin after supermajor ExxonMobil elected to withdraw from the license, according to partner Providence Resources.
Following ExxonMobil’s withdraw, and subsequent ratification by the Minister, the remaining partners in FEL 3/04 have increased their equity interests in the licence through a pro-rata distribution of ExxonMobil’s equity interest with Eni assuming the role of operator. Accordingly, the revised equity interests in FEL 3/04 are now Eni Ireland B.V. (36.913%), Repsol Exploracion Irlanda, (33.557%), Providence Resources (26.846% interest) and Sosina Exploration Ltd. (2.684%).
FEL 3/04 lies in about 1500 m water depth in the southern Porcupine Basin and is some 170 km off the south west coast of Ireland. FEL 3/04 contains the 2013-drilled Dunquin North carbonate build-up, which hosts a residual oil column, together with the undrilled Dunquin South exploration prospect.
In 2004, the licence was originally awarded to Providence (80%, operator) and partner Sosina (20%).