News

January 14, 2010

Faroe Petroleum Joins Exploration Big-Hitters As It Sees The Potential In Greenland

Inhabitants of small island nations tend, by necessity, to be a strange blend of the parochial and international. Faroe Islanders are no different. This wind-swept archipelago, half way between the Shetland Isles and Iceland, has retained its ancient language and local delicacies like puffin and whale blubber are still to be found on restaurant menus. Yet the people here often study and work internationally, and many are fluent in three or four languages. Little wonder then that one of its home grown oil companies, launched to participate in the Islands’ first offshore licensing round in 2000, has spent the past decade building an acreage position not just in the newly opened waters to the south and east of the Faroe Islands but also in the UK and Norway.

Now Faroe Petroleum, which true to its international ambitions is based not in Torshavn but Aberdeen, is looking further north, to Greenland.  At the end of last year, AIM-quoted Faroe Petroleum announced it had pre-qualified as an operator for the Greenland 2010 Baffin Bay Licensing Round.  This is, chief executive Graham Stewart said, a “natural progression” for the company, which despite its small size has positioned itself as a frontier exploration company with a relatively...