Project Profile
Location: Southern Porcupine Basin, c. 220 km off West Cork, being c. 70 km from the Dunquin exploration prospect, Ireland
Reserves: 872 million barrels of oil
Water Depth: c. 2,500 metre (c. 3,000 metres below the seabed)
Providence Resources P.l.c., holds a Licensing Option 11/9. Providence (80%, Operator) and Sosina Exploration (20%) were awarded Drombeg as part of the 2011 Irish Atlantic Margin Licensing Round. The 872 MMBO REC (P50) Lower Cretaceous Drombeg prospect lies in c. 2,500 metre water depth and is c. 3,000 metres below the seabed. The prospect is situated in the southern Porcupine Basin, c. 220 km off West Cork, being c. 70 km from the Dunquin exploration prospect which was drilled during 2013. Druid is the second large prospect to be identified in FEL 2/14, following the previously-identified Lower Cretaceous Drombeg prospect (estimated P50 prospective resources of 1.050 billion barrels). Further analyses of the 3D data to confirm this initial DHI assessment are ongoing.
Providence has recently been awarded a follow-on Frontier Exploration Licence, (FEL) 2/14, over Drombeg, having made a mandatory 25% areal relinquishment. The principal element of the forward work programme is the acquisition of a 500 km2 3D seismic survey over the prospect, with survey planning having already commenced. The main Lower Cretaceous Drombeg prospect is considered to be of a similar age and depositional setting to prospects being targeted by Kosmos Energy further to the north and east in the basin. Notably, the recently completed ExxonMobil-operated Dunquin North exploration well, which encountered a residual oil column in an over-pressured carbonate reservoir, has confirmed that both oil migration and entrapment has occurred within the Lower Cretaceous in this part of the basin.
Providence Resources has begun seismic survey planning over its Drombeg prospect having been awarded Frontier Exploration Licence (FEL) 2/14. Planning for a 300-square mile 3D seismic survey over the Drombeg prospect has already begun. The main Lower Cretaceous prospect is considered to be of a similar age and depositional setting to prospects being targeted by Kosmos Energy further to the north and east in the basin. Recently, ExxonMobil encountered a residual oil column in an over-pressured carbonate reservoir at Dunquin North, confirming both oil migration and entrapment have occurred within the Lower Cretaceous zone in this part of the basin.
Operators:
Providence Resources P.l.c.: Operator with 56% interest
Capricorn (a subsidiary of Cairn Energy): 30% interest
Sosina Exploration: 14% interest
Contractors:
Schlumberger: Contract to further de-risk the asset. Providence signed a technical deal covering its interests in the Southern Porcupine and Gorban Spur Basins. Schlumberger will assist Providence’s technical team, facilitating the opening of data-room processes as it prepares to pursue a farm-out at its Drombeg, Druid and Newgrange prospects in the first quarter of 2016.
Senergy Wells Ltd. (a subsidiary of Lloyds Register): Management and well-engineering services for the design and construction of the Druid deep-water well under the LR Global Management System – Well Project Delivery Process. (September, 2016)