Barryvoe gas boosts Lansdowne

LANSDOWNE Oil & Gas, the Dublin-based explorer in which Aberdeen’s SeaEnergy holds a 25 per cent stake, yesterday revealed that tests on its Barryvoe well off the Irish coast produced more gas than was expected.

Last week, Lansdowne – which was a subsidiary of SeaEnergy until it was floated on Aim in 2006 – surprised the market by announcing it had discovered oil in the Barryvoe well in what it believes are “commercially-viable” quantities.

Fellow Dublin-based driller Providence Resources is developing the Barryvoe well – which could be Ireland’s largest oil discovery – on behalf of Lansdowne. Tony O’Reilly, chief executive at Providence, said: “It is particularly pleasing to note both the oil and gas zones have far exceeded our pre-drill expectations in terms of oil and gas flow rates.”