Providence offered option on area near Barryroe field

Providence Resources has been offered a two-year licensing option on an area of the Celtic Sea, which could ultimately increase the total size of its Barryroe find.

The Dublin-headquartered oil and gas exploration company — which last month reported that its Barryroe field, located 50km off the Cork coast, could contain between 1bn and 1.6bn barrels of oil and be four times larger than initially thought — said yesterday that seismic mapping of this new area suggests that parts of the Barryroe field may extend into this area.

“This new option hasincreased our acreage position in the most prospective central part of the basin,” Tony O’Reilly Jnr, Providence’s chief executive, said.

“Our work programme has been designed to assess the potential of any extensions of the Barryroe field into the option area, together with determining whether any further satellite accumulations may exist close to the fields that warrant investigation.”

The new two-year option has been awarded by the Department of Natural Resources and relates to five-part blocks adjacentto the Barryroe field.

As part of the deal, there would be a commitment to drill at the site once the two-year term is up and the option is converted into a standard exploration licence. Providence will operate the option on behalf of junior partner Lansdowne Oil & Gas.

Davy Stockbrokers’ Job Langbroek said the new option makes “perfect sense” to Providence.