Drilling of Hook Head Well Commences

Providence Resources Plc ("Providence" or the "Company")

                      CELTIC SEA TRADING UPDATE

                DRILLING OF HOOK HEAD WELL COMMENCES

Providence, the  AIM  (London) and  IEX  (Dublin) listed  oil  &  gas
exploration and  production  company,  today announces  that  it  has
commenced drilling its Hook Head appraisal well, located in  Standard
Exploration Licence 2/07  in the  North Celtic Sea  Basin. Using  the
Petrolia semi-submersible  rig, drilling  operations on  the  50/11-3
well commenced at approximately 20:45 on Friday, August 17th.

Partners in the Hook Head well are:

                             Providence Resources Plc (Operator) 40%
                             Challenger Minerals (Celtic Sea) Limited
15%
                             Dyas BV 15%
                             Forest Gate Resources Inc 15%
                             Atlantic Petroleum (Ireland) Limited 10%
                             Sosina Exploration Limited * 5%

It is anticipated that the  complete drilling programme will take  up
to 50** days.

* Farm in subject to Ministerial Consent
**This includes a  provision for comprehensive  wireline logging  and
testing.

Tony O'Reilly Jnr., Chief Executive of Providence said:
"We are pleased to announce  the commencement of drilling  operations
at Hook Head.  This is an  exciting time for  Providence and we  look
forward to the outcome of this drilling programme".

Contacts:

Providence Resources Plc                    Tel: [phone]
Tony O'Reilly Jnr., Chief Executive

Powerscourt                                                 Tel:  +44
(0)207 250 1446
Matt Ridsdale

Murray Consultants                                   Tel: [phone]
0300
Pauline McAlester

Notes to Editors

About Providence
Providence Resources Plc is an independent oil and gas exploration
company listed on the AIM market in London and on Dublin's IEX
market. The Company was founded in 1997, but with roots going back to
1981 when it predecessor company, Atlantic Resources Plc was formed
by a group of investors led by Sir Anthony O'Reilly.

Providence's active oil and gas portfolio includes interests in
Ireland (offshore), the United Kingdom (onshore and offshore), the
United States (offshore) and West Africa (offshore Nigeria).
Providence's portfolio is balanced between production, appraisal and
exploration assets, as well as being diversified geographically.

Comprehensive information on Providence and its oil and gas
portfolio, including the all press releases, annual reports and
interim reports are available from Providence's website at
www.providenceresources.com.

About Hook Head
The Hook Head structure  is a large  mid-basinal anticline where  two
previous wells  have  successfully  encountered  hydrocarbon  bearing
sands. The original IRL50/11-1 discovery  well, which was drilled  by
Marathon in  1971,  logged  c.  100  feet  of  hydrocarbons  in  five
sandstone units of Lower Cretaceous age. The well was not flow-tested
due  to  severe  operational  issues  at  the  time.  The  subsequent
IRL50/11-2 appraisal well, which was drilled by Marathon in 1975  was
drilled as a delineation well at the down-dip edge of the structure.

Post-drill mapping by Marathon indicates that the crest of the
structure is located to the north-east of the IRL50/11-1 discovery
well, which is further supported by the seismic data acquired by
Providence in 2006. This crestal location is some 2 km northeast of
the IRL50/11-1 well and is thought to be c. 70 metres structurally
higher than the original well. The most recent in-house volumetric
estimates suggest that the Hook Head discovery could contain
prospective resources of up to c.70 MMBO or 250 BSCFG REC.

Celtic Sea Licence 2/07
Licence No 2/07 refers to part blocks 49/22, 49/23, 48/29, 48/30,
49/26, 49/27, 49/28, 49/8, 49/9, 49/13, 49/14, 50/6,50/7 and 50/11 in
the North Celtic Sea Basin.

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