PROVIDENCE LOGS SIGNIFICANT HYDROCARBONS OFFSHORE IRELAND

 

 

 

 

Providence Resources Plc, the AIM and IEX listed company, together with its partners is pleased to announce that it has successfully logged a total of 75 feet of net hydrocarbon bearing reservoir in the 50/11-3 Hook Head appraisal well, offshore Ireland. This well, which is located in 240 feet water depth and is c. 60 km offshore Waterford, is situated in Standard Exploration Licence 2/07 in the North Celtic Sea Basin. The well was drilled to a total depth (TD) of 4,880 feet true vertical depth subsea (TVDSS). All geological horizons were encountered within the pre-drill depth prognosis and significant oil and gas shows characteristic of either a light oil or rich gas were encountered whilst drilling.

 

Preliminary petrophysical analysis of electric wireline logs acquired over the main Lower Cretaceous target indicates a 484 foot gross hydrocarbon bearing interval. The reservoir zones are of equivalent age to those encountered in the 50/11-1 & 2 wells, located c. 2.5 km and c. 5 km to the south-west, respectively. Initial analysis of the data suggests an overall improvement in reservoir quality at the 50/11-3 location, with average porosities of 20% within the main hydrocarbon bearing interval. In addition to the successful appraisal of the accumulation, a number of further exploration objectives were also logged as hydrocarbon bearing in the well. The plan is now to set a string of casing prior to flow testing the well.

 

Upon completion of drilling operations, the revised* equity ownership in the Hook Head discovery is Providence Resources Plc (Operator) 43.5294%, Challenger Minerals (Celtic Sea) Limited 16.3235%, Dyas BV 16.3235%, Atlantic Petroleum (Ireland) Limited 10.8824%, Forest Gate Resources Inc. 7.5%, Sosina Exploration Limited 5.4412%.

 

 

Commenting on the announcement, Mr Tony O'Reilly Jnr., Chief Executive said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Hook Head structure is a large mid-basinal anticline where two previous wells have successfully encountered hydrocarbon bearing sands. The original IRL50/11-1 discovery well, which was drilled by Marathon in 1971.The well was not flow-tested due to severe operational issues at the time. The subsequent IRL50/11-2 appraisal well, which was drilled by Marathon in 1975 was drilled as a delineation well at the down-dip edge of the structure.

 

Post-drill mapping by Marathon indicates that the crest of the structure is located to the north-east of the IRL50/11-1 discovery well, which is further supported by the seismic data acquired by Providence in 2006. This crestal location is some 2.5 km northeast of the IRL50/11-1 well and is thought to be c. 70 metres structurally higher than the original well.  Pre-drill in-house volumetric estimates suggested that the Hook Head discovery could contain prospective resources of up to c.70 MMBO or 250 BSCFG REC.

 

 

 

Licence No 2/07 refers to part blocks 49/22, 49/23, 48/29, 48/30, 49/26, 49/27, 49/28, 49/8, 49/9, 49/13, 49/14, 50/6, 50/7 and 50/11 in the North Celtic Sea Basin. Standard Exploration Licence 2/07 partners include, Providence Resources Plc (Operator) 43.5294%, Challenger Minerals (Celtic Sea) Limited 16.3235%, Dyas BV 16.3235%, Forest Gate Resources Inc. 7.5%, Atlantic Petroleum (Ireland) Limited 10.8824%, Sosina Exploration Limited 5.4412%.

 

*The revised equity percentages are subject to Ministerial Consent.