Providence Resources will farm out part of its ownership in Frontier Exploration Licences (FEL) 2/04 and FEL 4/08, offshore Ireland.
The licences are located in the Spanish Point area, 175 km off the west coast of Ireland in the northern Porcupine Basin. According to a licence update issued by Providence on Tuesday, the farm-out process, which is being formally launched at the Atlantic Ireland Conference in Dublin, will focus on the divestment of a 32% non-operated interest, leaving Providence with a 26% interest.
The operator of the block is Capricorn, a subsidiary of Cairn Energy, with 38% stake, with partners Providence Resources (58%), and Sosina Exploration (4%).
Following previous delays to the Spanish Point appraisal programme, the Operator now plans to start drilling in 2017, subject to governmental approval, Providence said.
John O’Sullivan , Technical Director of Providence said: “Following the recent closure of the 2015 Irish Atlantic Margin bidding round, which attracted record industry interest, this divestment process represents an excellent opportunity for a third party to acquire a material, nonoperated equity stake in a large Irish offshore project with near term appraisal drilling, combined with further appraisal and exploration upside.”
“The proposed drilling programme is being managed by established Operator Cairn Energy and is expected to take advantage of the recent fall in global offshore drilling and service costs.”
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