An independent assessment of explorer Fastnet Oil and Gas’s Deep Kinsale target off the south coast indicates that it could contain 2.3 billion barrels of oil. Fastnet said today that an independent assessment of the licence area by SLR Consulting established the presence of a significant potential “unrisked” resource in place of over 2 billion barrels.

The group said that SLR carried out the assessment in accordance with generally accepted international procedures. In February, Fastnet agreed a deal with Petronas subsidiary Kinsale Energy to farm into the so-called “deep Kinsale prospect”. It lies deep below the existing Kinsale gas field, which has by now given up all but 3 per cent of its reserves. The Irish Times