Providence Signs Exploration Collaboration Agreement with Schlumberger

Providence Resources announced Monday that it has signed a collaboration agreement with Schlumberger for the exploration of the southern Porcupine and Goban Spur basins, which are located offshore Ireland.

As part of the agreement, the two companies are conducting a joint study that is designed to de-risk the Dunquin South, Drombeg, Druid and Newgrange exploration prospects. Schlumberger will also support Providence in facilitating farm-out data-room processes for the Drombeg, Druid and Newgrange prospects, which are expected to commence during the first quarter of 2016. The southern Porcupine basin, which is around the size of the Central North Sea, is considered to be geologically on-trend with the Statoil-operated Bay du Nord oil discovery in the Flemish Pass Basin, offshore Canada.

John O’Sullivan, technical director of Providence Resources commented in a company statement:

“Since our initial entry into the southern Porcupine and Goban Spur basins in 2004, we have witnessed a significant increase in interest in these basins from global exploration and production players. Our first mover advantage has allowed us to secure what we believe is some of the most materially prospective acreage in these basins, with the subsequent well results at Dunquin North and in the Flemish Pass, offshore Eastern Canada, serving to vindicate our initial exploration strategy. Having recently acquired modern high quality 2D and 3D seismic data over our primary prospects, we now plan to capitalize on our unique proprietary database by using Schlumberger’s best in class multi-disciplinary technologies in order to leverage in a deep-water operator.”

Providence is the leading acreage holder in the southern Porcupine and Goban Spur basins, with interests in four frontier exploration licences. On July 6, 2015 the company revealed that it had agreed to buy Atlantic Petroleum's four-percent stake in Frontier Exploration Licence 3/04, which contains the Lower Cretaceous Dunquin South carbonate prospect offshore southwest Ireland. As a result of the deal, Providence's equity in FEL 3/04 will increase from 16 percent to 20 percent. Schlumberger announced at the end of August that it was acquiring fellow oilfield services firm Cameron International in a massive $14.8 billion deal.