Providence Awarded Four New Licensing Options i...

17(th) October 2011 PROVIDENCE AWARDED FOUR NEW LICENSING OPTIONS IN 2011 IRISH ATLANTIC MARGIN ROUND Providence Resources P.l.c., ('Providence') the London (AIM) and Dublin (ESM) listed oil and gas exploration and production company, is pleased to announce that it has been  awarded licensing options over four new offshore areas as part of the 2011 Irish Atlantic Margin Licensing Round. The announcement of the Licensing Round results was made this morning by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Mr Pat Rabbitte, TD at the Atlantic Ireland Conference in Dublin. These Licencing Options have a two year term after which they may be converted into Frontier Exploration Licences, which have a 12 year term, divided into four three year phases, with a well commitment required at the end of the first phase. Providence will operate the licensing options in all four areas which cover c. 5,000 sq km and range in water depth from c. 400m to 3,000m. Providence's partners in the new acreage include both existing co-venturers, such as Chrysaor and Sosina, as well as new entrants, such as Repsol and FirstOil. Details of the Licensing options are as follows: Licensing Option Number of Partners (Equity Number Area Name Basin Blocks %) 11/11 Newgrange Goban Spur 8 Providence (40.0%) Repsol (40.0%) Sosina (20.0%) 11/9 Drombeg South Porcupine 6 Providence (80.0%) Sosina (20.0%) 11/12 Kylemore Slyne Trough 2 Providence (66.6%) FirstOil (33.3%) 11/2 Spanish Point Main Porcupine 6 Providence South (32.0%) Chrysaor (58.0%) Sosina (10.0%) Speaking today, Tony O'Reilly CEO of Providence said: "Providence is delighted to have been awarded such a significant acreage position on the Irish Atlantic Margin as part of the 2011 Round. Our studies completed to date indicate a number of structures with significant potential which will greatly augment our already formidable acreage position offshore Ireland. Providence now holds licence interests in 8 distinct basins offshore Ireland, including our first licence in the Slyne Trough offsetting the Corrib gas field as well as additional acreage adjacent to our Spanish Point gas condensate discovery. I am also particularly pleased to welcome Repsol and FirstOil into Ireland as new co-venture partners as well as continuing our very positive working relationship with Chrysaor and Sosina." CONTACTS: Providence Resources Plc Tel: +353 (0)1 2194074 Tony O'Reilly Powerscourt Tel: +44 (0)207 250 1446 Rob Greening/Lisa Kavanagh Murray Consultants Tel: +353 (0)1 498 0300 Pauline McAlester Cenkos Securities Plc Tel: +44 (0)207 397 8900 Adrian Hargrave/Nick Wells J&E Davy Tel: + 353 (0)1 679 6363 Stephen Barry/Eugenee Mulhern About Providence Providence Resources Plc is an Irish based oil and gas exploration company listed on the AIM market in London and on Dublin's ESM market. Providence's portfolio of production, appraisal and exploration assets includes licence interests in Ireland (offshore) and the United Kingdom (onshore). In 2011, Providence announced plans to invest with its partners upwards of $500 million in the drilling of a number of exploration and development wells in 6 different basins offshore Ireland. This multi-year programme represents the largest drilling campaign ever carried out offshore Ireland.www.providenceresources.com. 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 and member of The Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain. Definitions in this press release are consistent with SPE guidelines.                           SPE/WPC/AAPG/SPEE Petroleum Resource Management System 2007 has been used in preparing this announcement This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of Thomson Reuters clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that: (i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and (ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: Providence Resources plc via Thomson Reuters ONE [HUG#1555363]
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