PROVIDENCE CELTIC SEA UPDATE - SECURES RIG FOR ...

15 February 2008

                    PROVIDENCE CELTIC SEA UPDATE

                SECURES RIG FOR OFFSHORE IRELAND 2008

                HOOK HEAD DRILLING PROGRAMME PLANNED

Providence Resources Plc ("Providence"), the AIM and IEX listed
company, is pleased to confirm that it has successfully secured a
semi-submersible rig for its drilling programme in the Celtic Sea
during the summer of 2008.
This follows on from Providence's announcement on October 10th 2007,
confirming the presence of a significant oil accumulation at the Hook
Head structure with the drilling of the 50/11-3 appraisal well.

Under the terms of the deal agreed, Providence, on behalf of the
Celtic Sea partners, has hired the Transocean semi-submersible rig,
the GSF ARCTIC 2. The contract consists of two firm wells plus an
option on a third well. The primary objective of the drilling
programme will be to further appraise the Hook Head oil accumulation.
Depending on the outcome of this appraisal programme, the partners
may then also elect to drill a further appraisal well on the adjacent
Dunmore East 50/6-1 oil discovery, located some 20 kilometres north
of the Hook Head accumulation.
Details on the precise drilling locations and the sequencing of
drilling will be confirmed over the coming months.

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

"When we announced the successful discovery at Hook Head in October
2007, we confirmed that our immediate intention would be to try to
secure a rig for future drilling. In a very tight rig market, I am
therefore very pleased to report that we have been able to secure and
negotiate a flexible contract with Transocean for our upcoming summer
drilling in the Celtic Sea."

"The importance of this drilling programme cannot be overstated. With
further appraisal success, it should not only allow us to continue to
build on the discovery of the Hook Head oil accumulation but also
allow us to advance the development potential of the many other
undeveloped discoveries in the Celtic Sea Region."


Contacts:

Providence Resources P.l.c. Tel: [phone]
Tony O'Reilly Jnr., Chief Executive

Powerscourt Tel: [phone]
Rory Godson/Elizabeth Rous

Murray Consultants Tel: [phone]
Pauline McAlester/Robert Marshall

Notes to Editors

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. The Company was founded in 1997, but with roots going back to
1981 when it predecessor company, Atlantic Resources Plc was formed
by a group of investors led by Sir Anthony O'Reilly.
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 the all press releases, annual reports and
interim reports are available from Providence's website at
www.providenceresources.com

About Hook Head
The Hook Head structure is a large mid-basinal anticline where three
wells have successfully encountered hydrocarbon bearing sands. The
original IRL50/11-1 discovery well was drilled by Marathon in 1971,
while the subsequent IRL50/11-2 appraisal well, which was also
drilled by Marathon (1975), was located as a delineation well at the
down-dip edge of the structure. Post-drill mapping by Marathon
indicated that the crest of the structure was located to
the north-east of the IRL50/11-1 discovery well, which was further
supported by the seismic data acquired by Providence in 2006. This
view has now been confirmed based on data obtained from the
IRL50/11-3 appraisal well, which was drilled in 2007. Pre-drill,
in-house, volumetric estimates suggested that the Hook Head
accumulation has total prospective resources of up to 70 MMBO REC.

Details on Hook Head 50/11-3 Well
The well was drilled during August-October 2007 and was located in c.
240 ft. water depth. The well was situated c. 60 km offshore southern
Ireland in Standard Exploration Licence 2/07 in the North Celtic Sea
Basin. The licence interest is jointly held by six companies and is
operated by Providence Resources Plc, which has an interest of 43.5%
(see below). The well was drilled to a total depth (TD) of 4,880 ft.
true vertical depth subsea (TVDSS) using the semi-submersible
drilling rig Petrolia.
Some of the key results determined from the drilling programme and
the preliminary evaluation of the well data were:

  * The well was drilled on the crest of the structure and was on
    geological prognosis, confirming the pre-drill interpretation.
  * Hydrocarbons were encountered over a 484 ft. gross interval in
    the main target zone with 75 ft. of net hydrocarbon bearing
    section.
  * Three further prospective zones, which were identified pre-drill
    as exploration targets for the well, were all logged as being
    hydrocarbon-bearing. These good quality reservoir zones, which
    are above the main target zone, had good oil/gas shows whilst
    drilling and logged a cumulative of c. 20 ft. of additional net
    pay.
  * The hydrocarbon type recovered is now confirmed as a sweet
    mid-gravity crude oil, with some associated gas.
  * The reservoir is normally pressured to c. 1,170 psi at c. 2,550
    ft. TVDSS.
  * The reservoir porosities within the hydrocarbon bearing zones are
    up to 27%.

Whilst key reservoir and fluid data were acquired during the initial
well flowing period, down-hole mechanical conditions, which were
primarily related to a lack of good casing cement bond, resulted in
poor casing integrity, which in turn resulted in water ingress from
zones above and below the main hydrocarbon-bearing intervals. This
water ingress compromised the implementation of a full flow test
programme.

Celtic Sea Licence 2/07
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%.

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 18 years and is a fellow of the Geological
Society of London and member of the Energy Institute. Definitions in
this press release are consistent with SPE guidelines.

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