Irish
Oil giant ExxonMobil partners with Providence Resources to evaluate exploration off Irish coast
By Finfacts Team
Feb 13, 2006, 07:22

Providence, the AIM listed and Dublin listed oil & gas  exploration and production company, announced today that it has signed a farm-out agreement with ExxonMobil, the world's largest oil and gas  company, on its Dunquin Prospect, in the  Porcupine Basin, off the west coast of Ireland.

Providence Resources is an international upstream oil and gas company currently actively involved in Ireland, UK and Nigeria, West Africa.

Providence was  granted  an  80% interest  of  the  Dunquin  Prospect licence in November  2004 with  its 20%  partner, Sosina  Exploration Limited. Covering an area of some 700 km2, the large Dunquin Prospect extends over 5 blocks (blocks 44/18, 44/23, 44/24, 44/29 and  44/30). The licence for  these blocks  was granted to  Providence and  Sosina under the Irish Government's Frontier Exploration Initiative.

The terms of the farm-out agreement provide for ExxonMobil to conduct a significant exploration work programme  on the Dunquin Prospect  in return for 80% of the Dunquin Prospect. Providence will retain a  16% interest, and Sosina, a 4%  interest. The assignment of the  interest to ExxonMobil is subject to Irish Government approval.

• The agreement is subject to certain milestones being achieved with an initial commitment by ExxonMobil to fully fund a significant 2D survey programme as well as other associated technical work.
• ExxonMobil may then finance the drilling of up to two exploratory wells on the Dunquin Prospect, without further partner dilution.
• ExxonMobil, Providence and Sosina have also agreed to extend     exploratory efforts into various other areas within the southern Porcupine Basin.
• Providence has been appointed Operator of the initial 2D seismic     programme, which is scheduled to commence within the next few months. ExxonMobil will be the Operator for any drilling activities.

Tony O'Reilly Junior, Chief Executive of Providence, said: 'Partnering with ExxonMobil to open up a potential new hydrocarbon province is enormously exciting and heralds a new era for offshore Ireland. We applied for the Dunquin licence in the belief that the geology indicated a very serious prospect.'

'Dunquin is a welcome addition to ExxonMobil's large and growing portfolio of deepwater offshore acreage,' said Tim Cejka, President of ExxonMobil Exploration Company. 'This prospect covers a large and unexplored area that will take several years to fully evaluate. We look forward to working with our co-venture partners to apply the latest evaluation technology to determine its ultimate resource
potential.' 

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, chairman of Independent News and Media Plc.

Providence’s active oil and gas portfolio includes interests in Ireland (offshore), the UK (onshore and offshore) and West Africa (offshore Nigeria). Providence’s portfolio is balanced between production, appraisal and exploration assets, as well as being diversified geographically.