Petro River Oil has announced it has started drilling operations at the Larne Basin.

The firm confirmed it is working on drilling a well at Woodburn Forest, which is estimated to hold 25 million barrels of oil.

The vertical well is expected to be drilled to a depth of 2,000 metres.

Stephen Brunner, President of Petro River commented: "The commencement of drilling operations at Larne Basin is a major milestone for the Company, its shareholders and working interest partners. Larne Basin remains one of the only Carboniferous basins in Europe that is untested for hydrocarbons. As a micro-cap company today, we are excited to be a part of a project like this with such large potential.


"After we reach total depth, our teams will complete a comprehensive subsurface engineering study to fully analyse and evaluate each of the sandstone reservoir intervals. Findings from this well, coupled with new 3-D seismic data to be acquired in the basin over subsurface prospects previously identified by recently collected 2-D seismic data will help define and high-grade potential locations for future wells."

(CD/LM)