Providence Agrees Farm Out with Nautical on Nem...

28 September 2010
Embargo 7am


PROVIDENCE AGREES FARM OUT WITH NAUTICAL ON NEMO OIL DISCOVERY, OFFSHORE IRELAND

  * NORTH SEA HEAVY OIL SPECIALIST NAUTICAL PETROLEUM TO ACQUIRE 25% INTEREST
    FOR CARRYING OUT DEVELOPMENT FEASIBILITY WORK PROGRAMME ON NEMO OIL
    DISCOVERY


  * NAUTICAL HAS OPTION TO ACQUIRE ADDITIONAL 40% INTEREST AND OPERATORSHIP
    SHOULD IT ELECT BY THE END OF 2011 TO DRILL AN APPRAISAL WELL


Providence Resources P.l.c., ("Providence") the Irish oil and gas exploration
and production company, whose shares are listed in London (AIM) and Dublin
(ESM), is pleased to announce that Providence and its' licence partners have
agreed to farm down up to a 65% equity interest in the Nemo heavy oil discovery
to Nautical Petroleum plc ("Nautical"). The Nemo heavy oil accumulation
underlies the Ardmore gas accumulation in Standard Exploration License 2/07 and
is situated some c. 60 kilometers offshore Ireland in the North Celtic Sea Basin
in c. 90 metre water depth. Discovered in 1974, this c.16o API heavy oil
accumulation is estimated to have an in-place resource potential of up to c.
230 MMBO.

In  return for an initial 25% stake, Nautical  will fund and carry out a focused
work  programme on the  development feasibility of  the Nemo discovery. Nautical
has  an option to increase its stake up to 65% and assume operatorship should it
elect  by  the  end  of  2011 to  drill  an  appraisal  well on Nemo. Providence
currently  holds  an  operated  72.5% interest  in  Nemo  with partners Atlantic
Petroleum  (18.3%) and  Sosina Exploration  (9.2%). In  the event  that Nautical
exercises  its option  and drills  a well,  the participating interests would be
Nautical  (65%),  Providence  (25.3%),  Atlantic  Petroleum  (6.4%)  and  Sosina
Exploration  (3.2%). The farm-out  transaction is subject  to Irish governmental
approval.

Nautical  is  currently  involved  in  a  number  of  similar  heavy  oil  field
developments  in  the  UK  North  Sea  including  the Kraken discovery, which it
operates,  and Mariner, which is operated  by Statoil. In April, Nautical farmed
into  the Baltimore  heavy oil  discovery, in  the Celtic  Sea, offshore Ireland
where  a development  feasibility study  is ongoing.  Last week,  Providence and
Nautical  announced that  as part  of the  their ongoing  Baltimore study, a new
significant  gas prospect, Marlin, had been identified in the area and that they
had  been granted an  extension in the  license option area  by the Minister for
Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.

Tony O'Reilly, Providence's Chief Executive, stated:

"We  are very pleased to be collaborating  with a company like Nautical that has
significant  heavy oil expertise that will help unlock the potential of the Nemo
discovery and other heavy oil discoveries in the Celtic Sea."

Contacts:

 Providence Resources P.l.c.      Tel: [phone]
 Tony O'Reilly/John O'Sullivan


 Powerscourt                      Tel: [phone]
 Rob Greening/Lisa Kavanagh


 Murray Consultants               Tel: [phone]
 Pauline McAlester


 Cenkos Securities Plc            Tel: [phone]
 Joe Nally/ Nick Wells


 J&E Davy                         Tel: + 353 (0)1 679 6363
 Eugenée Mulhern/ Stephen Barry




Notes to Editors:

About Providence
Providence Resources Plc is an independent oil and gas exploration and
production company listed on the AIM market in London and on Dublin's ESM
market. Providence's active oil and gas portfolio includes interests in Ireland,
the United Kingdom, the United States (Gulf of Mexico) and West Africa
(Nigeria). Providence's portfolio is balanced between production, appraisal and
exploration assets, as well as being diversified geographically. Through a 100%
owned subsidiary, EXOLA Limited, the company is engaged in the evaluation and
potential development of unconventional oil fields. Further information on
Providence and its oil and gas portfolio, including Annual Reports are available
from Providence's website atwww.providenceresources.com.

About Nautical Petroleum
Nautical Petroleum plc is developing significant heavy oil resources in the
United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS) and in Europe. They hold an interest in
the Kraken discovery and are a partner in the Statoil operated Mariner
discovery. In addition, they hold significant equity interests in number of
exploration and appraisal blocks in the UKCS and France. Their aim is to secure
further heavy oil discoveries in the UKCS and EU through acquisitions, farmins
and licensing rounds. More information on Nautical can be found on
www.nauticalpetroleum.com

About Nemo
The Nemo heavy oil accumulation underlies the Ardmore gas accumulation and was
drilled by Marathon Oil in 1974 on a Lower Cretaceous structure on trend with
the Kinsale Head gas field. The well encountered a number of stacked oil and gas
bearing reservoir sands of Lower Cretaceous age which are similar to those
producing at the nearby Kinsale Head field. Drill stem testing flowed gas at a
cumulative rate of c. 8 MMSCFGD whilst the oil recovered was a heavy crude (c.
16o API). Providence recently acquired a pseudo 3D seismic survey over the area
has carried out an initial evaluation of the resource potential of the Nemo
discovery which suggests an in-place resource potential of up to c. 230 MMBO.

About Heavy/Unconventional Oil
Heavy oil is crude oil which does not flow easily as its density or specific
gravity is higher than that of light/conventional oils. Heavy crude oil is
defined as any liquid petroleum with an API gravity of less than 20° which is
mostly the result of the oil being derived from an early mature source rock or
else due to subsequent effects of bacteria, water or air on light oil which
result in the loss of the lighter fractions. Heavy oil has received renewed
interest due to the recent increases in oil price as it provides a potential
significant source of new global oil reserves.

Announcement
This announcement has been reviewed by John O'Sullivan, Technical Director,
Providence Resources P.l.c. John holds a B.Sc. in Geology from University
College Cork, Ireland, an M.Sc. in Applied Geophysics from the National
University of Ireland, Galway and a M.Sc.in Technology Management from The
Smurfit School of Business at University College Dublin. John is presently
working part-time on a PhD dissertation at Trinity College, Dublin. John has
worked in the offshore business for 20 years and is a fellow of the Geological
Society of London. Definitions in this press release are consistent with SPE
guidelines.



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