PROVIDENCE LOGS SIGNIFICANT HYDROCARBONS OFFSHO...
HOOK HEAD APPRAISAL WELL LOGS 75 FEET OF NET PAY IN THE CELTIC SEA
RESERVOIR QUALITY BETTER THAN EXPECTED
WELL FLOW TESTING PROGRAMME TO COMMENCE SHORTLY
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%.
*subject to Ministerial approval
Commenting on the announcement, Mr Tony O'Reilly Jnr., Chief
Executive said:
"We are delighted with the 50/11-3 well results to date, which appear
to confirm the presence of a significant hydrocarbon volume within
the Hook Head structure. The partners have now agreed to case the
well which will be followed by a flow testing programme".
Contacts:
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| Providence Resources P.l.c. | Tel: +353 1 219 4074 |
|-------------------------------------+---------------------------|
| Tony O'Reilly Jnr., Chief Executive | |
|-------------------------------------+---------------------------|
| | |
|-------------------------------------+---------------------------|
| Powerscourt | Tel: +44 (0) 207 250 1446 |
|-------------------------------------+---------------------------|
| Rory Godson/Elizabeth Rous | |
|-------------------------------------+---------------------------|
| | |
|-------------------------------------+---------------------------|
| Murray Consultants | Tel: +353 1 498 0300 |
|-------------------------------------+---------------------------|
| Pauline McAlester | |
|-------------------------------------+---------------------------|
| | |
|-------------------------------------+---------------------------|
| Davy Corporate Finance | |
|-------------------------------------+---------------------------|
| Stephen Barry | Tel: +353 1 679 6363 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
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 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.
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%.
*The revised equity percentages are subject to Ministerial Consent.
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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