Oil and gas explorer Providence Resources has completed the first phase of the AMEC conceptual development study for the ULYSSES salt cavern gas storage project in the Kish Bank Basin, offshore eastern Ireland.

Initial phase of this new study, carried out by engineering and project management firm AMEC, has confirmed that the construction of an offshore natural gas salt cavern storage facility at the ULYSSES location is both economically and technically feasible.

According to Providence, a number of scenarios have been developed which have an associated range in capacity, off-take export rates and capital expenditure.

Technical data relating to the subsurface geology, which will be acquired through the drilling of the Dalkey Island exploration prospect, will also assist with the advancement of this project.

Providence technical director John O’Sullivan said that the initial results from the AMEC ULYSSES study are very encouraging as they provide a range of potential project sizes and development concepts which could be built to meet market requirements.