Offshore staff

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Irish independent Island Oil & Gas has expanded its operations into the Dutch North Sea. Foolowing approval from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, the company has assumed control of the 30 sq km Q13 production license, which includes the undeveloped marginal oilfield, Amstel.

Shell/Esso drilled the discovery well in 1962; after a long gap, PanCanadian drilled two appraisal wells on the structure in the 1990s, one of which flowed 3,500b/d of oil and 1.12 MMcf/d of associated gas.

Amstel is a Lower Cretaceous field in 60 m of water, with estimated reserves of 7-12 MM bbl. Island plans to tie the field back to existing facilities in the area, targeting first oil by early 2009, depending on rig availability.

11-29-06