Ireland Operations

OFFSHORE WEST OF IRELAND

Licence Option 06/1

NEWGRANGE (formerly known as  Goban Spur) (16% interest)

The Newgrange Licence is 150 km south of Dunquin, covering an area in excess of 4,000 sq. km. This Licensing Option is operated by Providence. Seismic interpretation was carried out by the partnership following on from the licensing of 500 km of long offset 2D seismic data that was carried out over this 15 block area during the summer of 2006. An existing database of c. 5,500 line kilometres of vintage 2D seismic data together with potential field data have been integrated with the new data to provide an overall assessment of the prospectivity of the area. Providence is continuing its technical evaluation of Licensing Option 06/1 and as a result of this work, a number of significant leads and prospects have been identified in the area. These are presently being integrated within a broader petroleum systems analysis of the South Porcupine and Goban Spur Basins which include the Dunquin and Drombeg licences.

The Company, together with its partners ExxonMobil and Sosina, recently agreed to relinquish six blocks on the south side of the option area in order to focus on the Newgrange Prospect, which is a large four way dip closed prospect extending over a c. 1,000 sq km area.