Providence updated on its exploration evaluation activities in Petroleum Exploration and Development License (PEDL) 233, in the Weald Basin, Onshore UK. Providence holds an operated 50% equity interest in PEDL 233 together with its partner, Northern Petroleum. Baxter's Copse is directly adjacent to Providence's 99.125% owned Singleton Oil field which currently produces over 800 BOEPD.

PEDL 233 was awarded to the group as part of the 13th UK Onshore Licensing Round and contains the Baxter's Copse oil discovery. This discovery was drilled by Conoco in 1983 and flowed c. 50 BOPD from the original vertical exploration well. The Baxter's Copse discovery is located c. 5 km northeast of the Singleton oil field production facilities, which is operated by Providence. The Group has reprocessed the available 2D seismic data over Baxter's Copse, which has greatly improved the subsurface imaging. Subsequent interpretation, depth conversion and mapping have indicated that Baxter's Copse is a significantly larger oil accumulation than was previously thought.

RPS Energy has carried out a third party audit which indicates that the Baxter's Copse accumulation contains 2P and 3P undeveloped gross reserves of c. 5.4 MMBO and c. 15 MMBO, respectively. The partners have agreed a work program to advance the Baxter's Copse discovery to development with the first potential horizontal production well to be drilled from the Singleton facilities in 2011. The Group also plans to further evaluate the other prospects and discoveries within PEDL 233.

Speaking today, Tony O'Reilly, Chief Executive of Providence, said, "We are very pleased to report that our work program on Baxter's Copse has dramatically upgraded the field's reserve potential and accelerated it towards development. The deployment of modern seismic processing technologies has been the key to understanding the potential of the Baxter's Copse discovery and this, together with our recent redevelopment activities at the Singleton field, bode well for the ultimate exploitation of these significant reserves. We look forward to working with our partner Northern Petroleum in the coming months to advance Baxter's Copse to first oil in 2011, which is good news for Providence and its shareholders."

Tags: Providence Resources Plc