Providence Sees 28% Increase in Production

Providence released preliminary results for the year ended December 31, 2009.

PRODUCTION

  • Annual production increases by 28% to 557,927 BOE (2008: 433,625 BOE)
  • Singleton, Onshore UK: SNX-10 production well increases field production by 50% 

APPRAISAL/DEVELOPMENT

  • Spanish Point gas and Burren oil discoveries, Ireland: 3D seismic data acquired for well planning
  • Baxter's Copse, PEDL 233, onshore UK: First oil planned for 2011
  • OML113, Offshore Nigeria: Commerciality of the AJE field declared 

EXPLORATION

  • Dunquin Prospect, Ireland: Drilling commitment made by Operator ExxonMobil and ENI
  • Kish Bank, Ireland: Dalkey Island oil prospect 

EIRGAS Limited

  • Option exercised to acquire up to 40% of the Kinsale Head assets from PETRONAS 

MOMENTUM 2010

  • New SPV, EXOLA Limited, established to focus on unconventional oil projects
  • Strategic seismic collaboration agreed with PGS Ventures
  • EXOLA: Licensing authorization over Baltimore heavy oil discovery
  • EIRGAS: Identification of suitable structures for salt cavern gas storage in Kish Bank Basin 

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

  • Revenue of $28.2 million (2008: $33.2 million) lower due to lower average commodity prices and hurricane impacted production
  • Results from Operating Activities loss of $1.46 million (2008: Loss of $56.4 million) include a number of one-off hurricane related costs and abandonment costs
  • Net loss of $13.1 million (2008: Loss of $68.6 million) includes $16.61 million of non cash items (2008: $81.8 million)
  • €0.0036 loss per share (2008: Loss €0.0206) 

CORPORATE

  • New $100 million banking facility with BNP Paribas
  • $44.8 million in aggregate raised via equity raising in June 2009 and February 2010
  • Appointment of First Energy as international capital markets adviser 

Commenting on the results, Tony O'Reilly, Chief Executive of Providence Resources P.l.c. said, "I am pleased to report that our Company has delivered a solid operational performance in 2009. We have continued to expand and enhance our asset base, while also managing to increase production levels by 28% to 557,927 BOE compared to 433,625 BOE in 2008. 

"Over the past 5 years, Providence has built up a sizable and extensive portfolio of assets in the production, development and exploration arenas in Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States and West Africa. In doing so, we have aligned ourselves with world class partners including ExxonMobil, Chevron, ENI, Vitol, Star Energy and PETRONAS. Our focus is to ensure that this portfolio has sufficient scale and diversity so as to allow for multiple avenues of value creation for our shareholders. In this regard, we achieved a number of notable successes during 2009. 

"Within our production portfolio, the success of the Singleton SNX-10 well confirmed our field re-development model and has subsequently led us to accelerate various field activities to further boost production including the potential 2011 third party tieback of the Baxter's Copse discovery. On the development front, the acquisition of 3D seismic data last summer was an essential step forward in advancing the Spanish Point gas project, as well as beginning to un-mask the potentially large Burren oil project off the west coast of Ireland. Within the exploration portfolio, ExxonMobil's confirmation of drilling the Dunquin prospect follows years of extensive exploration work with ENI capturing a 40% stake in this world class exploration target. In addition, the ongoing development of our two new special purpose vehicles, EIRGAS Limited and EXOLA Limited, allows Providence shareholders to participate in the exciting arenas of gas storage and heavy oil, respectively. 

"Looking ahead, 2010 is a key year for Providence with a number of projects now advancing to the drilling stage. This, combined with a growing production base, and the potential to realize the value being created in both our EIRGAS gas storage and EXOLA heavy oil interests, gives us real confidence for the future. We are also continuing to look at future opportunities that can deliver appreciable value creation, both in Ireland and further afield."


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