A British company has reserves of natural gas off the coast of Cork sufficient for commercial development plans.
Ramco says it has carried out successful tests of the Seven Heads field, near Kinsale Head, and says it does not need to do further tests before moving to develop the field commercially.
'It is exceedingly good news,' said a spokeswoman for the company, 'and it has the highest gas flow rate found anywhere in the Seven Heads field'.
Charlie Sharp, gas analyst at Canaccord Capital, said the find was not as large as the Enterprise discovery in the Corrib Field, but was still a major breakthrough for the company.
He said Ramco would probably be able to piggy back on infrastucture used by Marathon Petroleum to distribute gas from the Kinsale Field.
Test results showed found a maximum flow rate of 13.7 million cubic feet of gas per day.
'We will now enter discussions with the Department of Marine and Natural Resources, and our partners in the project, to move things forward,' said the Ramco spokeswoman.
Ramco is the majority shareholder (49%) of the Sevens Heads Group, which also includes Duke Energy, Island Petroleum, Northern Petroleum, and Sunningdale Oils.
Speculation has been mounting about the find over the last two weeks, and has seen the company's share price rise from just over £2.90stg on 5th October, to £3.63 today.
The company is listed in London on the AIM exchange.
