Irish oil and gas company Providence Resources has mobilized the Stena IceMAX drillship to Frontier Exploration Licence (FEL) 2/14, in the southern Porcupine Basin off Ireland, with expected arrival in early July.
FEL 2/14 is operated by Providence, with 56% interest, on behalf of its partners Capricorn Ireland Limited, with 30%, and Sosina Exploration Limited, with the remaining 14% interest. Capricorn, a subsidiary of Cairn Energy, farmed into the license last March and agreed to pay 45% of the drilling costs for the 53/6-A exploration well, subject to a gross well cap of $42 million.
Late last year, the JV partners contracted the Stena IceMAX deep-water drillship to drill the Druid & Drombeg exploration well in FEL 2/14.
According to Providence’s statement on Wednesday, following the granting of a safety permit in respect of well work activities for Providence’s well work safety case and Stena’s non-production safety case from the Commission for Energy Regulation, the IceMAX has now mobilized from its base in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria with a current expected time of arrival at the planned 53/6-A well location July 3.
The oil company also said that the actual drilling operations are subject to final Ministerial consent from the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (DCCAE).