Gas production off Mayo coast to start soon
Oil and gas exploration company Ramco have said they should produce gas early in the fourth quarter after a 'tremendous' amount of activity in their Seven Heads gas development off the Mayo coastline.
Ramco announced that they have halved after-tax losses to £1.4m (€1.98m) for the first six months of 2003 mainly due to their drilling operations off the West Coast of Ireland.
The company said it had made 'rapid progress' to bring the field into production since March when the Government granted permission on development approval.
Tests this year already indicate an initial production rate of 60 million standard cubic feet of gas per day under their gas sales agreement.
This performance could be increased during 2004 after well-performance is monitored.
The Aberdeen-based company has acquired further acreage believing that even modest gas developments can be developed profitably.
2003 is emerging as the busiest off-shore drilling season in Ireland for over 20 years with additional wells being drilled by Marathon, Statoil and Shell.
Stephen Remp, Executive Chairman of Ramco said:" This has been an excellent period for Ramco.
"While the real financial benefits of the project will not fully impact until next year, the commencement of production will have a positive effect on the full year results," he added.
Ramco is also hopeful that it can begin drilling one of its wells in Montenegro in the second-half of 2004.
