Minister McHugh welcomes very significant interest in new authorisations for oil and gas exploration in Ireland’s offshore area.

Wednesday 16 September 2015 marked the deadline for applications in the 2015 Atlantic Margin Licensing Round. Following the closure of the round, Minister of State for Natural Resources, Joe McHugh T.D. today announced that 43 applications for licensing options were received by the deadline.

Minister McHugh said "This is by far the largest number of applications received in any licensing round held in the Irish offshore. The applicant companies include majors, mid-cap companies and smaller companies. The response to the licensing round is a further positive signal of the building momentum in oil and gas exploration offshore Ireland."

Evaluation of the applications will now commence, with decisions on the award of exploration authorisations to be made in the coming months.

Ends. 

Source: http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/news-and-media/en-ie/Pages/PressRelease/Minister%20McHugh%20welcomes%20very%20significant%20interest%20in%20new%20authorisations%20for%20oil%20and%20gas%20exploration%20in%20I…’s%20offshore.aspx