AQW 11973/17-22

Mr Andrew Muir
Alliance Party
North Down

Tabled Date: 11/12/2020
Answered On Date: 23/12/2020
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy how many instances of petroleum exploration there have been in Northern Ireland, in each of the last five financial years.

Answer:

All petroleum exploration activities that take place in the Northern Ireland are carried out under licence from the Department for the Economy.

During the past five financial years, two Petroleum Licences were active in in Northern Ireland: PL1/10, awarded to InfraStrata Plc and eCorp Oil & Gas UK Limited on 4 March 2011 and PL3/10, awarded to Rathlin Energy Limited on 15 February 2011. These licences were relinquished in April 2020 and October 2015 respectively.

Petroleum exploration activities include desk-based studies, laboratory-based analyses or ground-based activities such as exploratory drilling or seismic surveying.

The exploration activities carried out in Northern Ireland in each of the last five financial years is as follows:

2019/20 None

2018/19 None

2017/18 Desk-based studies on the Identification and Characterisation of Source Rock potential in the Larne Basin and an Air-FTG® Feasibility Modelling Report (PL1/10).

2016/17 Drilling of the Woodburn Forest No. 1 Well and associated subsequent studies: Downhole Geophysical Logging, Isotopic Analysis of Gas Samples, Petrophysical Analysis, Biostratigraphical Analysis (PL1/10).

2015/16 Plugging and Abandonment of Ballinlea No. 1 Well (PL3/10).