The newly built dynamically positioned drillship Fugro Synergy commences drilling operations for VP Power in the Kish Basin, approximately 13.5 Nautical miles east of Bray Head this morning. The wells will be shallow coal exploration drilling to old layers of rock. The job is to verify the amount and quality of coal in place for a future Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) project. The deepest well will be drilled to 3,600 ft. More here.
The operation has been put together by a consortium that includes Brian Geoghan, husband of health minister Mary Harney, and Michael O'Leary, who developed Dun Laoghaire Marina.
Funding for the €3million exploration was announced in July. Details are in a Sunday Tribune article here. It is hoped that 2bn tonnes of "clean" gas-from-coal energy can be extracted from the site.