Providence’s British unit wins second exploration licence

THE British subsidiary of Irish oil and gas prospector Providence Resources has won its second exploration licence within a week.

PR Singleton Ltd — Providence’s wholly-owned British offshoot — has been offered a licence in the St George’s Channel Basin off the coast of Wales, by the British government.

The block contains part of the Dragon gas discovery, which stretches across both British and Irish waters. The company had made an out-of-round application along with one of its partners, Star Energy Oil & Gas.

The awarding will allow Providence to drill on the Dragon discovery quicker than anticipated.

Providence chief executive Tony O’Reilly Jnr said: “We are very pleased to have been offered this UK block, which is adjacent to Irish licence SEL 1/07, which Providence operates 100%.”

He said the new block “will allow Providence to move forward with the drilling of its planned appraisal well”.

Job Langbroek of Davy Stockbrokers said: “Dragon is part of a multi-well offshore Ireland drilling programme. This starts with the results of the Barryroe well in the Celtic Sea, expected in the coming weeks. Separately, a foreshore licence is currently being sought to drill in the Kish Basin along the east coast of Ireland.”

Last week, PR Singleton was awarded a six-block exploration licence off the Northern Irish coast in the Rathlin Basin — where its parent company already has a presence.

Last month, Providence finally began its offshore Ireland drilling at the Barryroe well off Cork. It will drill 21 wells across six basins over a number of years. The company is aiming to increase production rates from the current 900 barrels of oil equivalent per day level to 1,500.