Providence Resources has been granted an increase in the areal extent of its 100% operated Standard Exploration Licence (SEL) 1/07 in the St George's Channel Basin, offshore south-east Ireland by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.

This revised licence authorisation contains the mapped extension into Irish waters of Marathon's proven UK Dragon gas field, which was discovered in 1994. Published public data on this field confirms a resource base of c. 80 BSCF within the existing tested reservoir zones.

Providence's mapping of the Dragon Field indicates that c. 25% of the field extends into SEL 1/07 and that there is potential for deeper hydrocarbon bearing intervals beneath the field, which were not drilled with the original discovery well. The expansion of the licence area has been designed to capture this additional "Orpheus" exploration prospect, which may be targeted as part of any future appraisal/development well programme on the overlying Dragon Field. The Dragon Field lies approximately 60 kilometres from Milford Haven in South Wales where two new LNG facilities are being commissioned

Tony O'Reilly, Chief Executive of Providence, said,"We are pleased to have expanded our acreage in the Dragon Field area. The proximity of the newly installed gas infrastructure associated with the newly commissioned LNG facilities could act as a catalyst for the future development of discovered resources within the area. Additionally, using our extensive sub-surface knowledge of the area, we will continue to evaluate the exploration potential for gas production as well as storage opportunities".

Tags: Providence Resources Plc