Providence secures partner for Spanish Point project

PROVIDENCE Resources has involved Challenger Minerals in a farm-out deal on its west of Ireland Spanish Point project.

This gives Challenger a 10% stake in the project and reduces Providence’s equity from 80% to 72%. Sosina holds the 18%.

Meanwhile, Providence continues its search to secure other players for the project and is involved in discussions with more third parties.

Challenger Minerals is a subsidiary of Global Santa Fe, a leading supplier of rigs, and also partners Providence in its Celtic Sea licence.

A drilling programme for the Celtic Sea licence is in the final stages of planning, with a rig secured for this summer’s campaign.

Spanish Point is an oil and gas discovery in the Porcupine Basin on the west coast.

Job Langbroek, the country’s leading energy sector analyst noted that in 1981 Spanish Point flowed oil at 1,000 barrels of oil per day from one of four zones in an extensive hydrocarbon column.

“A re-evaluation of technical data from Spanish Point suggests that the structure could contain 1.4 trillion cubic feet of gas and 160 million barrels of oil,” he said.

Tony O’Reilly Jnr, chief executive of Providence described the deal as “a very important step forward” in delineating the potential of the well.

Providence was now looking forward to progressing its discussions with other third parties with a view to assembling a drilling syndicate to drill the Spanish Point Project as early as possible, he said.