THE multimillion pound search for oil and gas off the Co Down coast, funded jointly by Elf and Mobil, is to start again next month, according to the energy company Elf Exploration UK.
Drilling is expected to start at a site 16 miles off Ballyquintin Point and will last for between 35 and 45 days.
Elf also carried out a programme of test drilling in the area two years ago in the hope that massive gas deposits off the coast of Lancashire extended across the Irish Sea.
The results of the exploration were not disclosed.
Meanwhile, a new power plant to be built in the village of Benburb, on the border of counties Armagh and Tyrone, could help to revive the fortunes of an area badly hit by the BSE crisis.
The plant, which is being built by the Larne-based B-9 Energy Biomass company, will be the first of its kind in Northern Ireland.
It is expected to start operations early in the New Year.
Initially, the combined heat and power plant will be fuelled by woodchips from a local sawmill.
This will be turned into gas to power a diesel engine, which will generate heat and electricity.
This power will then be fed into the NIE system, from where it will be used to provide power for local homes and industry.
The director of B-9 Energy Biomass, Mr David Surplus, is urging local farmers to form a co operative to diversify into growing willow trees in order to feed the plant.
The project has arisen from government regulations governing the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from power stations, and the increased use of renewable sources of energy.
