The findings back up Oil and Gas Peoples September 2014 report regarding under-estimated reserves off the west coast of Scotland.

A team of geologists from the University of Aberdeen has conducted extensive studies of rock formations around Rockall – a tiny islet 300 miles off Scotlands Western Isles.

The team have discovered that any potential oil reserves in the basin will have been pushed away from the most likely prospect locations as a result of ‘volcanic intrusions’ in the basin’s geography.

The findings reinforce Oil and Gas Peoples 2014 report which advised that predicted UK Oil and Gas reserves are thought by industry experts to be double the official figures, with the underestimated west coast reserves playing a key role in this miscalculation.

The Rockall basin at around 1/6 of the size of the North Sea has only seen 12 wells drilled in it’s waters, in comparison to over 4,000 drilled in the North Sea. This comes despite the basins sedimentary formation giving a high likelihood of significant reserves.

The team of geologists at the University of Aberdeen now believe that past drilling has concentrated in the wrong areas, after extensive seismic data analysis concludes that ‘Volcanic Intrusion’ may have pushed the oil away from previous prospect areas.

Geologist Dr Nick Schofield said: “The Rockall Basin is one of the most challenging environments on earth when it comes to hydrocarbon explorations, but our analysis has revealed that one of the barriers to success may have been a misunderstanding of the subsurface geology.

“By analysing seismic data, and using what we have learned through our work in the Faroe-Shetland Basin, we found that the character of areas where operators hoped to find oil may have been misleading.”

In simple terms, subsea bumps were thought to be the most likely location for finding trapped oil and when drilling unveiled no reserves within the bumps, the area was dismissed for future exploration.

Nick Richardson from the Oil and Gas Authority said: “The seismic acquisition programme and subsequent work by Aberdeen and Heriot Watt universities are an important part of our strategy to revitalise exploration.

“The findings of Dr Schofield’s paper demonstrate the value in applying the latest geological knowledge and understanding to seismic data to increase industry’s awareness of the opportunities that still exist in frontier areas.”

Mike Tholen, from industry body Oil and Gas UK, told BBC Scotland: “You’re probably looking at two or three years to really pursue something if we see it now, but we’re talking about years rather than decades.

“This is a new horizon and a new opportunity. Rigs are affordable at the minute (and) companies are looking hard at prospectivity around the world.”

More analysis of the seismic data is expected to take place over the next 18 months.

Oil and Gas Peoples 2014 independent industry investigation results regarding potential predicted reserves and how the scale of Scotland’s untapped frontier West Coast or Atlantic Margin has been significantly underestimated can be found below.