Cairn Energy Drops Ibiza Oil Drilling Plans

Oil explorer Cairn Energy  has dropped plans to drill near Spanish holiday island Ibiza, the company said, as it wants to focus on developing potentially huge reserves offshore Senegal.

 

Cairn was set to carry out seismic testing on four offshore blocks in the Gulf of Valencia but has now decided its money will be better spent in Senegal where it said its oilfields could hold more than a billion barrels of oil.

 

"Cairn has informed the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce that it intends to withdraw from four exploration permits in the Gulf of Valencia," a spokesman said.

 

The company will maintain other projects in Spain, including applications for new licences offshore the Gulf of Lion and the Bay of Biscay, he added.

 

Cairn, which currently has no revenue as it focuses purely on exploration, has earmarked nearly three-quarters of its $185 million 2015 exploration budget for its West African projects, including three new wells offshore Senegal.