Petro River UK Ltd. was notified that drilling operations began on the Woodburn Forest-1 Well in the Larne Basin of Northern Ireland, parent company Petro River Oil Corp. said May 17. Initial results are expected in July.

The vertical well will be drilled to a depth of 2,000 meters, or about 6,500 feet, to test the commercial viability of the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone, Lower Permian Sandstone and Carboniferous Sandstones reservoir intervals.

The company’s joint venture partners estimated that Woodburn Forest could hold 25 million barrels (MMbbl) of estimated P-50 prospective resources.

Petro River and Horizon Energy Partners LLC collectively acquired a 25% working interest--9% and 16%, respectively--in about 130,000 gross acres of onshore and offshore petroleum licenses in the Larne Basin.

The Larne Basin has broad similarities to the highly prolific Carboniferous-sourced East Irish Sea Basin to the southeast, which has produced more than 200 MMbbl of oil and 4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The exploration of the Larne Basin, if successful, has the potential of being one of the largest recent onshore discoveries in Western Europe.

Petro River Oil Corp. is based in New York. Horizon Energy Partners LLC is based in Denver.

Offshore