Operations in Ireland
Slyne Basin
Blocks 27/4, 27/9 and part Block 27/5 – Slyne Basin
Serica 50% (operator), RWE Dea 50%
In December 2006 Serica was awarded Irish Frontier Exploration Licence FEL 1/06, comprising blocks 27/4, 27/9 and part block 27/5, which together cover an area of 611 square kilometres in the Slyne Basin off the west coast of Ireland.
Ireland has immediate and long term needs for energy supplies as it currently imports the bulk of its requirements and any sizeable discovery in the blocks would be of major importance to the country.
The blocks lie some 40 kilometres south of the Corrib discovery, which has reserves of approximately 800 billion cubic feet of gas. In FEL 1/06, Serica has mapped several large gas prospects at Triassic Sherwood sandstone level that appear to be an extension of the Corrib play. There is also the potential for oil prospects to be present.
Serica has reprocessed a 3D seismic survey of about 500 square kilometres that was shot in 2001 and 2002 over most of the licence area. Four large Sherwood sandstone gas prospects were mapped, Bandon, Boyne, Achill and Liffey, which have potential prospective resources of up to one trillion cubic feet of gas each.
In December 2008 the Company completed a farm-in agreement with RWE Dea AG, under which RWE acquired a 50% interest in FEL 1/06 in return for contributing the bulk of the cost to drill the first exploration well.
Well 27/4-1 was spudded on 11th May 2009 to test the Bandon prospect and reached a total depth of 6,233 feet in the Sherwood sands. Although no gas was found, an oil accumulation was discovered and a sidetrack well 27/4-1z was drilled to confirm the oil discovery. Oil samples were taken in both wells for analysis. It is not clear whether the oil accumulation discovered so far could be commercially produced, but the discovery has opened a new oil play in the Slyne Basin and is very encouraging for future exploration.
Serica will now carry out a remapping exercise using the 3D seismic data to further evaluate the oil prospectivity of FEL 1/06 as well as to confirm the potential of the three remaining Sherwood sand gas prospects in the licence.