Ireland: Enegi Says Clare Basin Has Potential for Shale
London-listed independent Enegi Oil says that is encouraged by field test studies, undertaken on its Clare Basin licence in the Republic of Ireland, which have pointed to the asset's prospectivity for shale gas.
The company, which was awarded the onshore licence in February 2011, says that analysis of samples taken from studies of the prospect have indicated an even higher prospectivity than Enegi previously expected.
A Total Organic Carbon analysis has indicated that an abundance of preserved organic matter, Enegi says, in the rich source rock, while Vitrinite Reflectance analysis has shown that the shale is lower maturity than previously believed, which "enhances the potential for gas preservation at depth in the basin".
Enegi will now conduct further testing on the asset through Fugro Robertson, a geoscience consulting company. Fugro will in turn provide an independent estimate of the in-place resources of the licence.
This further study, CEO of Enegi, Alan Minty, says, will form the basis for the company's future activity on the Clare Basin licence.
"The latest results strengthen our belief in the potential of the Clare Basin," he said today. "We look forward to the results from Fugro, which will not only shape our plans for the area, but also give us an indication of the magnitude of resources that we could potentially book in future."
The further analysis and study of the asset will be collated and then summarised into a report, which will be submitted to the Petroleum Affairs Division of the Department, as per the licence requirements, by the 30th November 2012.
Enegi is the 100 per cent licence-holder for the Clare Basin asset.