Providence secures Drombeg FEL

20/01/2014

The exploration firm was awarded Drombeg - 22km off the coast of Cork - as part of the 2011 Irish Atlantic Margin licensing round.

The granting of a follow-on FEL means the company has opted to take the project further.

The principal requirement of the follow-up work will be the acquisition of a 500 square kilometres three-dimensional (3D) seismic survey over the prospect. Survey planning has already started.

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 southern Porcupine Basin.

"Given the significant oil prospectivity, which was highlighted during the Licensing Option phase, it should come as no surprise that we have elected to progress Drombeg to an exploration licence,” confirms John O'Sullivan, technical director of Providence.

“We envisage the 3D survey both as a tool to allow for further exploration risk mitigation, together with well planning. The results of the nearby Dunquin North well confirmed our oil-prone model for the area with the overpressure encountered in that well mitigating top-seal risk at Drombeg. In contrast with the Dunquin North target, however, our existing 2D seismic data indicates that active hydrocarbon migration into Drombeg is occurring to the present day”.