Providence Resources today announced it intends to carry out a study on the possibility of developing the Helvick Head discovery off Ireland.
The company said it intends to do this in conjunction with Unmanned Production Buoy Limited (UPB), an Aberdeen-based business specialising in applying proven technologies to develop oil and gas projects. UPB's speciality is unmanned production systems.
According to Providence, Helvick, which was found back in 1983, is extremely productive, with initial test rates of up to 10,000 bls per day, but was not large enough to sustain a conventional development system.
However the discovery has an estimated resource of 10m barrels in place of which 20 per cent to 25 per cent might be recovered, an amount that has "substantial value" given current oil prices, Providence said.
Providence has a net 72.5 per cent stake in the field which it holds through EXOLA, a special purpose vehicle.