Ardmore Heavy Oil Resource Assessment

18 May 2010
Embargo 7am


    PROVIDENCE COMPLETES HEAVY OIL RESOURCE ASSESSMENT OF THE ARDMORE FIELD,
                                OFFSHORE IRELAND

  *  ESTIMATE SUGGESTS A RESOURCE POTENTIAL OF UP TO c. 230 MILLION BARRELS IN
    PLACE


  *  ARDMORE TO BE MANAGED BY EXOLA LIMITED, PROVIDENCE'S SPV ESTABLISHED TO
    FOCUS ON HEAVY/UNCONVENTIONAL OIL


Providence Resources P.l.c., ('Providence') the Irish oil and gas exploration
and production
company, whose shares are listed in London (AIM) and Dublin (IEX), is pleased to
announce that it has completed a technical assessment of the heavy oil potential
which underlies the Ardmore gas field ('Ardmore').  The Ardmore field is located
in Standard Exploration Licence (SEL) 2/07 in the North Celtic Sea Basin and is
situated some c. 60 kilometers off the south coast of Ireland in c. 90m water
depth. Providence holds a 72.5% operated interest in SEL 2/07 with partners
Atlantic Petroleum (18.3%) and Sosina Exploration (9.2%). Providence manages its
interest in the Ardmore field through its special purpose vehicle EXOLA Limited.

The Lower Cretaceous aged Ardmore field was discovered by Marathon Oil in 1974,
and comprises a gas cap with an underlying heavy oil (c. 16o API) accumulation.
Recent work in the area, which revealed the presence of potentially significant
heavy oil resources at the nearby Baltimore discovery, prompted a re-evaluation
of the deterministic resource potential within the Ardmore oil leg. This work,
which is based on a recently acquired 2006 3D seismic survey, has now been
completed and suggests an in place resource potential of up to c. 230 MMBO.

Speaking today, Tony O'Reilly, Chief Executive of Providence, said:

"The positive results from our recent work on the Baltimore heavy oil discovery
lead us to re-evaluate Ardmore in the context of its heavy oil potential. Whilst
further work needs to be carried out, we are suitably encouraged by this review
and as with our recently announced JV on Baltimore, we have agreed with the
Ardmore partners to seek a heavy oil specialist to assess this discovery for
potential future development."
Contacts:

Providence Resources P.l.c.
Tel: [phone]
Tony O'Reilly/John O'Sullivan

Powerscourt
Tel: [phone]
Rob Greening/Lisa Kavanagh

Murray Consultants
Tel: [phone]
Pauline McAlester


Notes to Editors

About EXOLA Limited
EXOLA Limited is a SPV (special purpose vehicle) established by Providence to
invest in heavy and unconventional oil developments and opportunities offshore
Ireland and the United Kingdom. EXOLA, which is an Irish Company, is owned 100%
by Providence.

About Providence
Providence Resources Plc is an independent oil and gas exploration company
listed on the AIM market in London and on Dublin's IEX market. Providence's
active oil and gas portfolio includes interests in Ireland (offshore), the
United Kingdom (onshore and offshore), the United States (offshore) and West
Africa (offshore Nigeria). Providence's portfolio is balanced between
production, appraisal and exploration assets, as well as being diversified
geographically. Comprehensive information on Providence and its oil and gas
portfolio, including all press releases, annual reports and interim reports are
available from Providence's website at www.providenceresources.com
<

http://www.providenceresources.com/>.

About Ardmore
The Ardmore discovery well (49/14-1) was drilled by Marathon Oil in 1974. The
well encountered oil and gas at c. 2,500'-3,000' TVDSS in sands of Lower
Cretaceous age which are similar to those producing at the nearby Kinsale Head
field. Oil recovered during testing was a heavy crude (c. 16.4o API) with
electric wireline logs indicating excellent reservoir potential. Recent work by
major operators such as Statoil is currently progressing similar heavy oil
accumulations in the North Sea, most notably the Mariner and Bressay
accumulations toward development. It is likely that standard heavy oil field
technologies such as artificial lift, horizontal drilling and chemical injection
will play key roles in any ultimate commercialization of the Baltimore oil
resource.

About Heavy/Unconventional Oil
Heavy oil is crude oil which does not flow easily as its density or specific
gravity is higher than that of light/conventional oils. Heavy crude oil is
defined as any liquid petroleum with an API gravity of less than 20° which is
mostly the result of the oil bearing derived from an early mature source rock or
else due to subsequent effects of bacteria, water or air on a light oil which
result in the loss of the lighter fractions. Heavy oil has received renewed
interest due to the recent increases in oil price as it provides a potential
significant source of new global oil reserves.

Announcement
This announcement has been reviewed by John O'Sullivan, Exploration Manager,
Providence Resources P.l.c. John holds a B.Sc. in Geology from University
College Cork, Ireland, an M.Sc. in Applied Geophysics from the National
University of Ireland, Galway and a M.Sc.in Technology Management from The
Smurfit School of Business at University College Dublin. John is presently
working part-time on a PhD dissertation at Trinity College, Dublin. John has
worked in the offshore business for 20 years and is a fellow of the Geological
Society of London. Definitions in this press release are consistent with SPE
guidelines.


[HUG#1416476]