Cairn Energy has not yet given up hope on a high potential region in the frozen north, with the company saying it is determined to return to exploration offshore Greenland.

The independent remains focussed on the Pitu exploration block where it says 3-D seismic mapping has confirmed prospects within the area with “multibillion boe prospective resources”. Mapping and evaluation of 3-D data has identified a number of prospects, Cairn said recently in an interim statement.

The company, which operates the Pitu block with 56.875%, plans to return to the region in the future, with a drilling decision currently due to be made in 2015.

Scheduling for another exploration target, Spanish Point, off the west coast of Ireland may however be moving, Cairn has further indicated, due to availability of the Blackford Dolphin semisubmersible. Cairn, which operates Spanish Point with 38%, has said drilling there will be subject to rig scheduling and regulatory approval.

Last July it signed a contract to use the Blackford Dolphin for an appraisal well on the discovery commencing in the second quarter of this year in Frontier Exploration License (FEL) 2/04. Also the company is planning a minimum 500 ?sq?km (193 sq mile) 3-D survey over adjacent acreage in FEL 1/14, for which tenders have been submitted.

Spanish Point was discovered by Phillips Petroleum back in 1981 with the IRL 35/8-2 well and tested 1,000 b/d of oil and 5 MMcf/d of gas from Upper Jurassic sands, and 3-D data was acquired in 2009. According to license partner Sosina Exploration, the find has contingent gas and condensate resources of 200 MM boe. Modelling suggests peak production potential of 70,000 b/d.

Nearby lies the Burren oil discovery, drilled with the IRL 35/8-1, again by Phillips, and which tested at 700 b/d of 34° API oil. Prospective resources are 66?MM bbl, based on 3-D data, according to Sosina. A further 680 MM boe has been mapped using 2-D and 3-D data on the adjacent FEL 4/08. Both licenses lie in the main Porcupine Basin 200?km (125?miles) off the west coast of Ireland with water depths up to approximately 600 m (2,000 ft).