Providence Resources has increased its equity stake in, and assumed Operatorship of, the Barryroe oil discovery ('Barryroe') in the North Celtic Sea, offshore Ireland. Separately, Providence has agreed to assign a 10% non-operated interest in the Helvick oil field, contained in Standard Exploration Licence (SEL) 2/07 in the North Celtic Sea Basin, to Lansdowne Oil and Gas plc ('Lansdowne').

Subject to Irish governmental approval, the revised equity partnership in Barryroe will be Providence (50%), San Leon Energy (30%) and Lansdowne (20%), whilst at Helvick, the revised equity participation in SEL 2/07 will be Providence (62.5%), Atlantic Petroleum (18.333%), Lansdowne (10.0%) and Sosina (9.1667%).

Having agreed this revised Barryroe equity participation, the partners have commenced planning for a new 3D seismic survey over the eastern flank of Barryroe. This survey, which is expected to be acquired during the first half of 2011, will be used to plan for an appraisal/pre-development well designed to progress Barryroe to first oil. Previous studies have indicated that complex reservoir architecture together with the waxy nature of the Barryroe crudes could pose a challenge to commercial development. However, the partners believe that modern 3D seismic data, in tandem with horizontal artificially lifted well completions in the current oil price environment, should help to circumvent these issues. The partners have also commenced discussions with other Irish operators on potential rig availability for a pre-development well on Barryroe in 2011.

A third party audit carried out by RPS Energy for Lansdowne indicated P50 and P10 STOIIP estimates for Barryroe of 373 MMBO and 893 MMBO, respectively. The corresponding 2C and 3C Barryroe recoverable contingent resources are 59 MMBO and 144 MMBO, respectively.

John O'Sullivan, Technical Director of Providence, said, 'Given the magnitude of the potential resources identified in the 2009 Barryroe audit, we are delighted to be in a position to increase our equity interest by assuming the role of operator for the project. The potential presence of hundreds of millions of barrels of oil in place in the shallow waters off the south coast of Ireland is a huge prize. Working with our partners, we now plan to drive this project towards early appraisal, with an initial 3D seismic survey, followed by drilling.'

Tags: Providence Resources Plc