Providence Resources through its wholly owned subsidiary EIRGAS Limited (EIRGAS), has selected international engineering and project management company AMEC to begin a conceptual development study for the ULYSSES salt cavern gas storage project in the Kish Bank Basin, offshore eastern Ireland.

The ULYSSES Project, which commenced in 2008, assessed the natural gas storage and carbon sequestration potential of the Kish Bank Basin, offshore Dublin. The study confirmed a site which may be suitable for the construction of an offshore natural gas salt cavern storage facility.

AMEC, as a leading global provider of project management and engineering services, has extensive experience of similar projects on and offshore where gas is planned to be stored in deep undersea man-made salt caverns. The initial phase of the study includes planning and gas sourcing and is expected to be completed by Q1 2011.

John O'Sullivan, Technical Director of Providence, said: 'We are delighted to be working with AMEC on the ULYSESS project. We believe they will bring significant value to the project given their proven track record in the delivery of many successfully operating gas storage projects in the UK. This type of high deliverability multi-cycle storage facility could help to underpin Ireland's significant installed wind generation capacity, whilst also facilitating Ireland's security of supply requirements as specified by EU directive.'

John Pearson, Managing Director of AMEC's Europe and West Africa business said, 'We are excited to be bringing our leadership and expertise in the development of gas storage projects to this promising onshore and offshore development which, if successful, will contribute to the security of supply for Ireland's future energy needs.'

Tags: Providence Resources Plc