I worked offshore in the oil and gas industry for 15 years, the last few spent actually drilling gas wells in Sharja UAE, in a joint venture between the Sharjan (government) and BP. In an area already known for its vast reserves of gas we struggled and the budget for three wells was spent on the first well ! This is the sort of thing that can happen whilst drilling "wildcat" wells. The potential to rapidly lose money speculating is extremely high.
The most important thing the Manx government could do in this situation with Crogga is to insist they always have enough money in reserve to pay for the clean up operation if it all goes tits up, otherwise the Manx taxpayer will have to foot the potentially enormous bill.
The gold standard in modern times is a 3D seismic survey, this is not 1x better than a 2D survey it is light years ahead and costs a fortune. A 3D survey is not essential but not having one shows you are either supremely confident about what's down there OR you have another reason, I suspect that Crogga can't afford it. If Crogga can't get enough money together to do a 3D survey then I severely doubt they will have enough money in reserve to pay for a clean up if the well turns out to be a duster! It looks like a cheapskate amateur operation to me. But what do I know.
Oh and while I'm ranting lets not forget the potential for some kind of catastrophic disaster off our coast, Piper Alpha, and Deepwater Horizon happened just before and during my time offshore.