Offshore staff
DUBLIN, Ireland – Providence Resources has secured a new licensing option following the conclusion of the second phase of awards in the Atlantic Margin licensing round (AMLR).
The company has agreed to terms to raise capital partly to assist in covering the cost of its portfolio of projects and prospects offshore Ireland.
As part of the AMLR, Providence (80%) operated a joint evaluation and bidding group with Sosina Exploration (20%).
The Providence-led group has been offered licensing option 16/27 over an area of around 1,324 sq km (511 sq mi) in thePorcupine basin. The option area is located about 150 km (93 mi) offshore western Ireland and is situated in around 1,300 m (4,265 ft) water depth.
The licensing option lies directly adjacent to and north of frontier exploration license (FEL) 3/04, which contains the Lower Cretaceous Dunquin North residual oil column.
Last July, Providence agreed to acquire Atlantic Petroleum (Ireland) Ltd.’s 4% stake in FEL 3/04. Subject to approval by the Irish government and the fulfilment of the remaining terms and conditions under the farm-out agreement with Atlantic, Providence’s non-operated stake in FEL 3/04 will increase from 16% to 20%.
During regional interpretation and mapping of vintage 2D seismic reflection data, Providence identified an extensive north-south orientated Paleocene basin-floor channel and fan system within the Porcupine basin’s axial. Termed the Avalon system, it runs about 550 sq km (212 sq mi) and is interpreted to be sourced from the north of the basin and shales out in a southerly distal direction.
A structural flexure down to the north negates the requirement for sandstone pinch out in the proximal direction, which the company said greatly improves reservoir sealing potential. The presence of a thick sandstone interval is indicated by compactional drape morphologies which are imaged within parts of the system.
Providence observed that the pre-existing Mesozoic structural grain appears to have exerted some control on deposition, as evidenced by the thickening of the system within pre-existing structural lows. While limited seismic reflection gather data were available during the evaluation phase, the available data suggest the potential for a depth-conformant amplitude versus offset anomaly similar to the nearby Druid prospect in FEL 2/14.
The main element of the agreed work program during the two-year option period is the purchase, reprocessing, and interpretation of existing 2D seismic reflection data.
John O’Sullivan, technical director of Providence, said: “We are particularly encouraged with Avalon given its similarities to the nearby Druid prospect as well as its location adjacent to the Dunquin North residual oil accumulation which demonstrates the presence of an active petroleum system in this area.”
06/23/2016
