PROVIDENCE RESOURCES has agreed to farm out a 40 per cent equity interest in Licensing Option 10/1 to Nautical Petroleum, it has been learned.
Licensing Option 10/1 contains the Baltimore heavy oil discovery situated some 30km (18.6 miles) offshore Ireland in the North Celtic Sea Basin in approximately 100m (328ft) water depth.
Discovered in 1992, this heavy oil accumulation is estimated to have a resource potential of up to 300 million barrels of oil.
It is understood that Nautical will fund and carry out a focused work programme on the development feasibility of the Baltimore discovery. Providence will retain a 60 per cent equity interest, operated through its special purpose vehicle, Exola.
Nautical is involved in several similar heavy oil field developments in the UK North Sea including the Kraken discovery, which it operates, and Mariner, which is operated by Statoil.
The farm-out transaction will be subject to Irish Governmental approval.
Providence is an Irish oil and gas exploration and production company, whose shares are listed on London’s AIM and Dublin’s IEX.
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