At 37,000 tonnes, the Eirik Raude rig is a modern-day monster of the seas. It has taken months to drag it at a leisurely six miles per hour from West Africa to an area called the Porcupine Basin some 93 miles off western Ireland.
And while it has cost an estimated $20million (£12.9million) just to get it there, this is nothing compared to the investment that will be poured into the Atlantic waters off the Republic in the search for oil and gas.
Drilling got under way earlier this week on the first of two targets on the Dunquin licence and it is estimated that operator Exxon and its partners will lavish anywhere between $160million and $200million on the project.
Black gold: prospectors are finally moving in off the west coast of Ireland to drill for oil.
However, the prize is a large one with historic data suggesting the two prospects could contain some 300million barrels of oil and 8.5trillion cubic feet of gas. If it fulfils its potential, Dunquin will be a truly world-class discovery.
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But this is far from a slam-dunk for Exxon, Italy’s ENI, Repsol of Spain and London-listed Providence Resources, which are jointly funding the exploration.
There’s almost a mile of water between the rig and the sea bed, while the prospective oil and gas bounty is up to another three miles down. So it will require an impressive feat of engineering to tap any hydrocarbons present.
In the modern era of exploration, this sort of challenge is tackled routinely around the world.
In fact it is tricky geology rather mechanical malfunctions that’s likely to foil Exxon and its co-investors, with City analysts suggesting the chances of success are as low as 15 per cent.
Over the decades an estimated 200 wells have been drilled around Ireland yet there are only two commercial fields – Kinsale and Corrib.
That said, much of this work was carried out decades ago when discoveries were routinely plugged in favour of larger finds in the North Sea. And, in fact, some of today’s explorers are re-visiting those early, supposedly un-commercial, wells. And if Dunquin does defy the odds, then it could open up the Atlantic margin of Ireland as a new oil and gas province.
Last week Kosmos, one of the world’s most successful oil and gas explorers, bought into the area, spying its potential, while a host of smaller companies have significant acreage close to Dunquin.
The success of this inaugural drilling campaign in the Porcupine Basin will likely give a huge lift to London-listed Petrel Resources (just 22 miles away) and neighbours Antrim Energy and Europa Oil & Gas.
But it is not just Dunquin that has attracted interest. The waters around Ireland have been staked and claimed by entrepreneurial explorers. In fact, the official map naming the licence holders reads like a Who’s Who of AIM oil and gas.