THE Kinsale Head gas field, due to run out in 2003 will be extended to 2015 because of new reserves found by Marathon in 1995.
At a news conference in Cork yesterday, Marathon announced plans for a new round of exploration off the Kerry coast and said that initial seismic studies indicated that both oil and gas deposits were to be found in the area.
Marathon will begin exploration drilling in late May on Block 35-30 in the Porcupine Basin and the operation will take place 70 miles off the Kerry coast from the semi submersible drilling rig, Jack Bates.
The drilling operation will continue for about three months in water depth estimated at 2,3 10 feet. The final depth of the well will be in excess of 13,000 feet.
According to Mr Duane Deines, president of Marathon International Petroleum Hibernia Ltd, the prospects for an oil or gas discovery are good and preliminary research has suggested that the area should yield good results. Mr Deines said yesterday: "We would not be out there if we did not believe that good results were possible and we are cautiously optimistic that we will discover new resources.
He added that last year Marathon - which has the longest history of exploration off Irish waters - had discovered a small new reservoir in the vicinity of but independent of the Kinsale Head field and that this would help to prolong the life of the field, which is expected to run out in 2003.
Mr Deines said that the new discovery would be used as a storage facility and fed into the Kinsale Head system as required during peak periods. If it were taken on stream immediately, he added, it would only last six months. But because of the proper management of the new discovery, the Kinsale Head field would last until at least 2010 and probably until 2015.
The new Marathon drilling operation will be the first well to be opened on a seven block licence area awarded to the company in 1995 as part of the Porcupine Basin frontier exploration licensing round. Marathon will begin exploratory drilling in late May and this will continue for about three months.
The operation will be supported mainly from the company's shore base at Cork with additional logistics being provided from Foynes, near Limerick. Air support to the rig will be provided from Cork Airport, and a standby vessel, the Viking Defender, will also be on location throughout drilling operations.
Marathon has been involved in the search for oil and gas in Irish waters since 1970. In July 1971, the company discovered the Kinsale Head gasfield, which is now supplying about 20 per cent of the Republic's natural gas needs and, in March 1989, the Ballycotton gasfield was discovered. The company is now hopeful that its latest seismic studies will lead to further discoveries off the southwest coast and that Marathon will continue to be the most important supplier of natural gas resources in the Republic.
