Penny Shares Guide

Lansdowne Oil and Gas Plc is an Irish independent oil and gas exploration company. An operator of its own exploration drilling, the company is not involved in any production drilling activities. The company’s business is solely in exploration and appraisal. So far it has been very geographically focused, pursuing opportunities in the North Celtic Sea Basin (NCEB) off Ireland’s southern cost. It holds rights to three standard licences and one licensing option. The agreements mainly covers the shallow waters of the NCSB that is proven in oil and gas prone.

North Celtic Sea vs. North Sea

Lansdowne Oil and Gas Plc has purposely targeted the Irish offshore shallow shelf areas for exploration and exploitation. Comparing to the busy activities in the neighboring North Sea, the proven oil and gas productive NCSB is still relatively under explored. Besides, shallow water drilling always provides a low cost environment. Considering both factors, the company expects to achieve higher returns on investments in the medium term. With a knowledgeable and experienced management team and the technical force that is supported by the company’s comprehensive database, Lansdowne is very competitive within the industry in the North Celtic Sea region.

Long Term Commercial Oil vs. Near Term Shallow Gas

Lansdowne Oil and Gas Plc continually evaluates drillable and quality prospects on its licensed areas. Three oil exploration wells have been successfully drilled and tested with positive oil flows. The drilling areas are proven oil productive horizons that are right beneath a gas field discovered in the 1970s. The company’s gas exploration and appraisal assets sit on both sides of a gas field operated by the integrated oil giant, Marathon Oil of U.S. other gas positions also include some identified Jurassic exploration targets.

Shares of Lansdowne Oil and Gas Plc (LOGP) are listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market and were at 5.50p as of 10 August 2010.

Irvine Energy Plc is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company focused on the development of onshore projects, both conventional and unconventional. Incorporated in the UK, the company operates exclusively in the U.S., currently working on projects within the highly prospective Kansas/Oklahoma region. Historical production in the area dates back to the 1800’s and cumulative outputs are in the billions of barrels and trillions of cubic feet for oil and gas respectively. The company currently has interests in three projects, the Niobrara project in Kansas, the Kansas project, and the Oklahoma project, jointly developed with one local partner who is also the operator for all projects. By combining conventional and unconventional plays, the company hopes to assemble a balanced portfolio of low risk and high capital yet efficient programmes.

Niobrara Project

Irvine Energy has 50 percent interest in the Niobrara project, which holds mainly shallow chalk gas. About one hundred wells have been drilled progressively over the years and many have quickly come on line to sales. The shallow nature of the gas formation makes it possible that the wells can be drilled and completed in surprisingly short periods, even less than a week, at very low cost.

Kansas Project

75 percent interest has been obtained by the company in the Kansas project. The project includes many oil-rich areas that have a prolific oil production history. What it has been lacking is the application of the state-of-the-art exploration technique, like 3D seismic. This provides significant upside potential for Irvine Energy as an exploration company. Various exploration drilling has been initiated and surveys have identified several prospects.

Oklahoma Project

The company holds also 50 percent interest in the Oklahoma project, which contains both conventional oil and unconventional gas. Some over 20 conventional production wells were included when the company purchased the property. Currently the company is focused on areas where unconventional shale gas exists. Vertical wells, and horizontal ones are being planned. Successful development of the shale could be huge with an estimate of net recoverable of over 200 billion cubic feet of gas.

Shares (IVE) of Irvine Energy Plc is currently delisted from LSE’s AIM sub-market.