Antrim Awarded Irish Offshore Option

Antrim has been awarded a Frontier Licence Option by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources of Ireland, under the Irish 2011 Atlantic Margin Licensing Round.

The Licence option area covers Blocks 44/4, 44/5 (part), 44/9, 44/10, 44/14, 44/15, an area of approximately 1,409 square kilometres located in the Porcupine Basin situated approximately 110 km off the SW coast of Ireland. The option allows Antrim two years to qualify the blocks for a full Exploration Licence.

The Antrim blocks are in an area of the Porcupine Basin which has seen some significant licensing activity particularly the recently announced farm-in by Repsol on the ExxonMobil operated Dunquin Licence. ExxonMobil along with its partners have recently agreed to enter a second phase of exploration on the Dunquin Licence which carries a firm well commitment to be drilled prior to November 2013. The Antrim award is immediately adjacent to and north of the Dunquin prospect.

The Porcupine Basin has large areas of potentially mature Jurassic oil source rocks and significant potential for Jurassic, Lower Cretaceous and Upper Cretaceous petroleum reservoirs in seismically defined but untested tilted fault blocks.

Update on Fyne Area Drilling Schedule, UK North Sea

Antrim expects to commence drilling on the "Erne" exploration prospect (Antrim 50%, operator) in the Greater Fyne Area once the WilPhoenix rig has completed its current operations with another exploration company on a well West of Shetland. Following the completion of the Erne well, the rig will move to Antrim's "Carra" prospect (Antrim 100%). The East Fyne appraisal well is expected to commence drilling in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Antrim is pursuing a strategy of balancing longer term and capital-intensive investments in the UK North Sea with shorter investment cycle on-shore exploration and production opportunities. Antrim also considers other global exploration opportunities as they arise.