Providence shares rise as new oil well flows

SHARES in Dublin-based energy explorer Providence Resources jumped as much as 15% on Tuesday after the company said a new well at a British oilfield in which it has a 20% stake had come on stream.

And Tullow Oil Plc shares rose as much as 3.1% after the oil and natural gas exploration company and partner Hardman Resources Ltd found oil in Uganda.

The company said the new X-8x well at the Singleton field in southern England, operated by Star Energy, along with the X-9 well that came on stream in December, had boosted the field’s production to about 640 barrels a day from 440.

“While the two new wells were only drilled to half their planned length, they have already added approximately 50% of incremental daily oil production to the field,” Providence, which listed on the London Stock Exchange’s junior AIM market in June, said in a statement.

“In addition, the Singleton Field partners are presently assessing a number of well intervention options which should further improve the performance of these new wells.”

Shares in Providence, which jumped in mid-February after the company said it had signed a deal with US energy firm Exxon Mobil Corp to drill for gas off Ireland’s west coast, were up 7.4% at €0.087 by 1112 GMT.

The stock, which has almost doubled in value since the Feb 13 deal was announced, earlier hit a high of €0.093.