On 15 October 2018 it was announced that the Isle of Man government has awarded an exploration licence to a company known as Crogga. The Isle of Man launched its 2nd Hydrocarbons Licensing Round on 11 September 2017 and it ran until December 2017. Two bids were received with both undergoing technical assessment and evaluation by the Department of Infrastructure, the Department of the Environment, Food and Agriculture and the Department for Enterprise. Any initial seismic shoots will require approval from the government as is the case for any proposed exploration drilling. The newly awarded licence comprises of three blocks 113/16, 113/21 and 112/25.  The Isle of Manâs governmentâs Department of Economic Development invited applications considering ones that were located fully or in part of the Isle of Manâs territorial waters. The blocks that were available in the round comprised - 108/5, 109/1, 109/2, 109/3, 109/4, 111/25, 111/30, 112/12, 112/13, 112/14, 112/15, 112/16, 112/17, 112/18, 112/19, 112/20, 112/21, 112/22, 112/23, 112/24, 112/25, 112/26, 112/27, 112/28, 112/29, 112/30, 113/16 and 113/21.   On 4 April 2016 the Isle of Manâs department of Economic Development announced that it had selected the British Geological Society (BGS) to assist them as technical advisors for the development of the Isle of Manâs Offshore Energy Strategy. It is thought that there could be potential for gas in the Isle of Man offshore. The main plays are present in the acreage on offer. The first play is the Triassic potential sealed by Mercia Mudstones and sourced by Namurian shale source. The second play is the sandstones of the Permian, Collyhurst Formation. The formation has variable reservoir properties with poor porosities in areas. The seal is believed to be the St Bee Anhydrite and the source again, the Namurian shale. Distribution of source rock here is the main risk. Â   Three wells in total have been drilled in the Isle of Man. The first exploration well, 112/25a-1, was drilled by BP in 1982 and encountered gas shows. The well was spudded prior to the introduction of the Manx legislation (introduced in 1995) and therefore fell under UK jurisdiction. The two other wells were drilled in the 1990âs. Marathon drilled 112/29-1 in 1996. The following year Elf drilled well 112/19-1. Both wells were abandoned as dry holes. Two geophysical surveys have been undertaken in the Isle of Man. The first survey was a 437 km 2D seismic survey carried out by Elf in 1996 and covered blocks 112/15, 19 and 20. The most recent survey was undertaken by Northern Petroleum in 2004 which contracted IMC to carry out a 6 km 2D survey onshore Isle of Man.
The Manx authorities have awarded local Crogga (an IoM-based company setup by local residents with experience in the o&g sector) a 266-sq km eastern offshore block as a result of a licensing effort late last year.