MajorWest African Oil Project

Providence Resources PLC
13 January 2005



          Providence Resources P.l.c. ('Providence' or the 'Company')
                     PROVIDENCE WINS INTEREST IN MAJOR WEST AFRICAN
                                   OIL PROJECT

Providence Resources P.l.c. is today (Thursday, 13th January 2005) pleased to
announce that, as part of an international oil company consortium, it has
recently successfully bid for participation in Oil Mining Lease 113 ('OML 113')
which contains the Aje oil and gas discovery ('Aje') in the Benin Basin,
offshore Western Nigeria.

The Transaction

Under the participation agreement entered into by the members of the consortium,
Providence will be entitled to 6.328% of the post-payback revenues from any Aje
development. The transaction is subject to the formal approval of the government
of Nigeria.

Providence's strong fellow participants in OML 113 includes Lundin Petroleum
(Technical Advisor), Challenger Minerals (part of the GlobalSantaFe
Corporation), Palace Exploration Company, Howard Energy, Syntroleum Corporation
and Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum. Providence was invited into the bidding consortium
as a result of relationships developed with both Challenger Minerals and Palace
Exploration during the 2004 Celtic Sea drilling programme on the Blackrock
prospect.

History of Aje, OML 113

As reported in the most recent independent technical assessment (completed in
October 2004), Aje is located in water depths of between 325 feet and c.3,000
feet and is 15 miles offshore being some 40 miles southwest of Lagos. The
discovery well, Aje-1, which was drilled in 1996 encountered oil and gas in
reservoirs of Cretaceous age, and flowed at an aggregate rate of 42 MMSCFD and
2,262 BOPD over three zones. An appraisal well, Aje-2, which was drilled in 1997
flowed 3,866 BOPD from an additional zone which had not been tested in the Aje-1
well.

The October 2004 independent technical assessment of Aje indicates that
appraisal drilling has the potential to confirm large volumes of commercially
viable oil and gas reserves. Appraisal drilling on Aje during 2005 will be
undertaken with this objective. OML 113 also contains a number of further large
undrilled prospects. The participants have also entered into an Area of Mutual
Interest covering areas adjoining OML 113.

Future Programme

The participants currently plan to drill at least one and up to two wells on Aje
in 2005 with drilling expected to commence during the second or third quarter.
Providence's minimum financial commitment will be met from existing resources.
In addition to oil, Aje also contains a significant volume of natural gas. One
of the participants, Syntroleum, may deploy their proprietary Gas to Liquids
('GTL') technology in order to maximize value from this gas.

Elsewhere Providence continues to actively pursue its activities in the Irish
Celtic Sea, Porcupine Basin and onshore and offshore UK. Significant progress
continues to be made in these areas as well as in other international pursuits.
Commenting on the announcement, Dr. Brian Hillery, Chairman of Providence said:

                'Providence is very pleased to join this strong group on a
                project of such robust qualities where oil and gas has already
                been discovered with potential for significant reserves at Aje.
                In addition there is further significant upside potential in
                large undrilled prospects within OML 113.'

ENDS.                                              Thursday, 13th January 2005

For reference:

Providence Resources P.l.c.
www.providenceresources.com

Dr. Brian Hillery, Chairman                     Tel:   [phone]
Tony Odone, Head of Operations
Stephen Carroll, Finance Director

Murray Consultants
Pauline McAlester                               Tel:   [phone]

EDITOR'S NOTES

OML 113 Participants
Lundin Petroleum (Technical Adviser) is a publicly quoted Swedish independent
oil and gas exploration and production company with a portfolio of assets
worldwide. www.lundin-petroleum.com

Challenger Minerals Inc is a subsidiary of GlobalSantaFe Corporation one of the
largest international drilling contractors. www.gsfdrill.com
Palace Exploration Company and Howard Energy Inc are both privately owned US oil
exploration and production companies.

Syntroleum Corporation is a US NASDAQ quoted company which owns a proprietary
GTL process for converting natural gas to into synthetic liquid hydrocarbons.
www.syntroleum.com

Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum (Operator) is a Nigerian indigenous company with
significant diverse business activities. www.yinkafolawiyo.com



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