Irish Atlantic Margin
We consider the Inishkea prospect in FEL 4/19 in the Slyne basin and near the Corrib gasfield our flagship project in Ireland. The Triassic gas hydrocarbon play is well understood and proven to work both technically and commercially in the Slyne basin by the Corrib gasfield. Therefore, play risk is lower than in other Atlantic Ireland basins where play risk remains to be conclusively proven by a commercially successful exploration discovery. Europa therefore views the licence as low risk exploration in a proven gas play.
FEL 4/19 Licence Overview
| Licence | FEL 4/19 |
| Europa interest | 100% operator |
| Partners | – |
| Area km2 | 945 |
| Basin | Slyne |
| Play | Triassic sandstone (gas) |
| Term | 15-year Frontier Exploration Licence |
Europa published updated prospective resource estimates for Inishkea West in September 2023, the results of which are included in the table below:
| Licence | Prospect | Play | Gross un-risked prospective resources (billion cubic feet) | |||
| P90 | P50 | Pmean | P10 | |||
| FEL 4/19 | Inishkea West | Triassic gas | 307 | 1,336 | 1,554 | 3,044 |
Inishkea West is a large four way anticlinal feature. The crest of the structure is faulted but these faults see Corrib Sandstone against Corrib Sandstone and are not believed to seal. This sets up a larger four way closure to the structure which is larger than previous mapping iterations. The top seal is believed to be Uilleann Halite and the side seal is provided by Uilleann Halite in the east and west of the structure. The four way closure and top and side seal provided by the Uilleann Halite provide a lower risk structure compared to previous mapping iterations. Engineering studies demonstrate strong positive economics, and porosity values are expected to be high with the present day depth of burial shallower than both the Corrib field and the Corrib North discovery. Inishkea West is significantly shallower than the Inishkea prospect and reservoir quality is expected to be good. Flow rates from discovery wells in Corrib were excellent despite being lower quality reservoir than what is expected in Inishkea West.
Water depths are comparatively shallow at around 700m but rig rates and exchange rates have changed since previous well costings. We have recently conducted a drill cost estimate for a well on the Inishkea West prospect with Zenith Energy and the Dry hole cost including mob and demob is $40 million.
Inishkea West is within easy tie-back range of the Corrib gas field situated some 18km to the south east. The proximity to the Corrib infrastructure, the mapped four way closure, the large prospective resource and the reduced seal risk means the Inishkea West prospect is the primary target on the FEL 4/19 licence.
Gas infrastructure is already present nearby at Corrib and, therefore, a fast track path to commercialisation is potentially available, subject to negotiation and cooperation with the infrastructure owners.
According to Gas Networks Ireland1:
- Gas generated 48% of Ireland’s electricity in 2022
- In 2022, 75% of Ireland’s gas was imported through the interconnectors from Scotland
Gas is likely to be a significant component of Ireland’s future energy needs both for electricity generation and domestic and industrial heating.
In addition to Inishkea, the licence holds the Corrib North structure containing the 18/20-7 gas discovery well drilled by Shell in 2010. Europa has currently identified a wide range of gas initially in place (GIIP) in the Corrib North discovery and, subject to a favourable outcome to engineering studies, it may be possible to upgrade to contingent resources. Whilst poroperm at Corrib North is towards the tighter end of the spectrum and the GIIP is comparatively low, we believe it is possible that it could nevertheless represent a commercially viable reserve.
The Corrib field was discovered by Enterprise Oil in 1996. Europa has access to a number of former Enterprise staff responsible for this project, including the geophysicist who first mapped the Corrib prospect, the Dublin exploration manager responsible for the first four exploration and appraisal wells, and the Dublin general manager responsible for taking the field through to consent for plan of development. Europa, therefore, has significant and relevant technical, commercial and project management expertise to apply to gas exploration in FEL 4/19.
In April 2024, Europa published a third-party report that details the results of an updated study which calculated the emissions associated with the development of a future 1 TCF indigenous gas discovery on its Irish offshore Licence FEL 4/19.
The key findings of the study are as follows:
- the average operational life-of-field emissions intensity for the Corrib gas is 5.3 kg CO2e/boe;
- the average operational life-of-field emissions intensity for indigenous gas on the Licence is forecast to be 2.8 kgCO2e/boe;
- the weighted average carbon intensity of imported gas into Ireland from the UK during 2022 is estimated to be 36 kgCO2/boe (estimated to be over 12 times more CO2 than indigenous gas from the Licence);
- LNG accounted for 26.7% of UK imported gas during 2022 with a weighted average carbon intensity of 78 kgCO2/boe (over 27 times more CO2 than Irish indigenous gas from the Licence), and,
- the projected production from Inishkea West has the potential to almost eliminate the need for gas imports from the UK in 2030 through to the end of 2032 (based on SEAI demand predictions) and therefore dramatically reduce associated emissions.
Please find the full emissions study here.