14 March 2017 

The 8 March, 2017 the Edinburg based Oil and Gas Exploration Company Cairn Energy farmed-in on the Frontier Exploration Licence (?FEL?) 2/14, which lies in c. 2,250 metre water depth in the southern Porcupine Basin and is located c. 220 kilometres off the south west coast of Ireland. The licence is operated by Providence Resources P.l.c. (?Providence?, 80%) on behalf of its partner SOSINA Exploration Limited (?SOSINA?, 20%). FEL 2/14 contains the Paleocene ?Druid?, Lower Cretaceous ?Drombeg? and Jurassic ?Diablo? exploration prospects.

On behalf of Providence/SOSINA the operator Providence has signed a Farm-in Agreement (?FIA?) with Capricorn Ireland Limited (?Capricorn?), a wholly owned subsidiary of Cairn Energy Plc (?Cairn?) over FEL 2/14 with an effective date of July 1, 2016.

In consideration for Capricorn taking a 30% working interest in FEL 2/14, Capricorn will pay:

The 53/6-A well is planned to spud in June 2017 (subject to all regulatory consents) using the contracted Stena IceMAX drill-ship targeting the Druid and Drombeg prospects.

In the event that the JV partners agree to drill a subsequent appraisal well in FEL 2/14, Capricorn will pay 40% of the appraisal well costs subject to a gross well cap of USD42 million and will have the right to take over Operatorship.

As a result of this transaction, the resulting equity in FEL 2/14 will be Providence (Operator - 56%), Capricorn (30%) and SOSINA (14%). Closing of the farm-in is subject to the approval of the Minister of Communications, Climate Action and Environment.

Cairn Energy PLC is one of Europe's leading independent oil and gas exploration and development companies and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Cairn has discovered and developed oil and gas reserves in a variety of locations around the world. Cairn?s business operations are focused on opportunities across a growing resource base in Senegal, the UK and Norway. Cairn?s portfolio also includes assets in Africa and the Mediterranean. Cairn is headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland with operational offices in London, Norway and Senegal.

During the initial pre-FEL 2/14 authorisation phase (Licensing Option 11/9 - 2011 through 2013), Providence and SOSINA identified two large vertically stacked Paleocene (?Druid?) and Lower Cretaceous (?Drombeg?) fan systems with notable Class II amplitude versus offset (?AVO?) anomalies primarily from 2D seismic data acquired in 2008. Providence and SOSINA subsequently agreed to underwrite a multi-client 3D seismic survey over the area.  This   3D survey was acquired by Polarcus in the summer of 2014 and was subsequently processed by ION Geophysical in 2014/15. In September 2015, Providence and SOSINA entered into a Strategic Exploration Collaboration Project with Schlumberger.

In April 2016, the results of the Strategic Exploration Collaboration Project with Schlumberger were announced:

 

Stena IceMAX is the world?s first dynamically positioned, dual mast ice-class drillship. The Stena IceMAX is a Harsh Environment DP Class 3 drillship capable of drilling in water depths up to 10,000ft. The IceMAX has on- board 2 x BOP?s, each 18¾? x 15,000psi Cameron ?TL? BOP c/w ST Locks, and uses Cameron Load King riser. The vessel was delivered in April 2012.