Faroe Petroleum has been awarded three new licensing options (LO 14/1, 14/2 and 14/3) by the minister for communications, energy and natural resources in the Celtic Sea, Republic of Ireland.

The two-year licensing options are located on the southern margin of the North Celtic Sea Basin in relatively shallow water depths of between 80 m and 110 m (262 ft and 361 ft) and together cover an area of 3,458 sq km (1,335 sq miles) and are all situated within 75 km (47 miles) of the south coast of Ireland.

The licensing options are targeting the underexplored Triassic Play, made up of Sherwood Sandstone reservoir juxtaposed against Lower Jurassic oil prone source rocks. The age and configuration of source and reservoir bear many similarities to the Wytch Farm oil field, onshore U.K. Initial interpretation of existing 2-D seismic data has revealed the presence of a number of large structural traps within the licensing options areas.