An independent assessment of explorer Fastnet Oil and Gas’s Shanagarry block off the south coast indicates that it could contain close to 1.3 billion barrels of oil.

Fastnet said today that an independent assessment of the licence area by SLR Consulting indicates that the area could contain a total of 1.298 billion barrels of oil and 1.342 trillion cubic feet of gas.

The group said that SLR carried out the assessment in accordance with generally accepted international procedures.

Fastnet’s managing director, Paul Griffiths, said that it confirmed Shanagarry’s “significant resource potential”.

The group holds an 82.35 per cent working interest in Shanagarry after taking a stake in the licence last year.

Drilling in the 1980s indicated that the block contained oil and gas. The area is close to Barryroe, where Providence Resources last year found significant quantities of both.

Fastnet is an independent Irish exploration group with interests in the Celtic Sea and Morrocco.