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But herein lies the magic that has engulfed the UK independent oil and gas sector. If you find oil or gas, any oil or gas, the market will reward you handsomely.

Mr O’Sullivan, 50, says that Burren’s strategy has not changed since he set up the company 11 years ago. “Go for cash. Always go for cash, follow the cash,” he says.

He bases his strategies on experience gleaned during a career that has taken him from the Republic of Ireland to Canada with Chevron, then to the United States and Australia as a seismic contractor before shifting to Eastern Europe in the early 1990s.

Mr O’Sullivan, who qualified as a geologist at University College Galway, says that Burren strictly adheres to strategy: generate cashflow, ensure that your asset portfolio is capable of more than replacing your reserves and have the right management team in place.

“Frankly, Burren has got those three. All we have to do is manage our portfolio and use our cash wisely, and the market will appreciate the management team,” he says.

“Burren is in the first year of a third five-year phase. The first was from 1995-2000, trying to raise money out of shipping, cut your costs to acquire upstream assets. That worked.

“2000 to 2005 was basically to make those upstream assets cash generative. Burren has Turkmenistan, which is cash generative, and Congo, which is cash generative.

“The third phase, which is starting now, is to use that cash to get upstream development assets to take the company to a higher generation of cashflow. Free cashflow to me is the most important factor of an oil company’s ability . . . That is what makes a company strong.” Free cashflow “allows you on the one hand to grow in the way you want to grow, on the other hand it makes you extremely attractive to somebody who wants to get reserves,” he says.

Mr O’Sullivan says that a quasi fourth leg of the Burren strategy is timing. Burren’s cash from Turkmenistan and Congo will provide sufficient cover until its fields in India start to produce in two years’ time.

“What I would love to do is get another one or two development assets, something that you can book immediately as reserves, and spend money on developing all the time. And basically all the time you are looking at having a portfolio of replacement reserves and cash generation.”

Burren’s expansion plans in Egypt are unlikely to meet its cash flow objectives, however. Last month it picked up two more blocks in the oil and gas rich country. Mr O’Sullivan expects to spend $30 million over the next three years on exploration drilling in Egypt.

But this is small change for Burren and ranks accordingly in the long-term ambitions of Mr O’Sullivan.

Egypt’s role, he says, is to provide Burren with the potential for positive newsflow — crucial for keeping the market interested in a company’s share price.

M’Boundi was the key newsflow source last year and Mr O’Sullivan expects more upsides from the Congo project this year. In a few years M’Boundi has gone from a one-well hit to an oilfield producing almost 40,000 barrels a day, with massive potential to rise further.

It is regarded as one of the most exciting onshore oil discoveries in Africa in recent times. Analysts say that further drilling at M’Boundi could boost recoverable reserves to 500 million barrels, more than twice the current level.

Burren has hired Ryder Scott, the Houston-based petroleum consultants, to carry out an audit of its oil reserves. The report should be published early next month, alongside Burren’s full-year results — and will give the market a clearer view of where Burren is headed.

This year Burren expects to invest £100 million in its various projects, with most attention on its assets in Congo and Turkmenistan.

The budget will cover up to 60 wells, including up to 17 exploration wells.

“Now that is going to be the sex appeal of this year’s newsflow,” Mr O’Sullivan says. Given Burren’s short but impressive track record, he might well be right.

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