Providence Resources collaboration project with Schlumberger update

Providence Resources has provided a technical update on its Exploration Collaboration Project with Schlumberger over certain of its assets in the southern Porcupine Basin, offshore Ireland.

Project Scope

The Collaborative Project commenced during 3Q15 and has been specifically designed to focus on the Druid, Drombeg, Newgrange and Dunquin South exploration prospects in the southern Porcupine Basin.

The initial results of the Collaborative Project focus specifically on the Druid and Drombeg exploration prospects, which are located in Frontier Exploration Licence (FEL) 2/14. Further work is ongoing relating to the Newgrange exploration prospect, which is located in Frontier Exploration Licence (FEL) 6/14 and further updates will be provided on this when appropriate.

The Druid/Drombeg licence is situated c. 220 km off the west coast of Ireland. The licence is operated by Providence Resources P.l.c. (80%) on behalf of its partner Sosina Exploration Ltd (20%). 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 multiclient 3D seismic survey over the area. This 3D survey was acquired by Polarcus in the summer of 2014 and subsequently processed by ION Geophysical in 2014/15.

The main results of the Collaborative Project in relation to the Druid and Drombeg prospects are detailed below:

Druid Prospects (Paleocene)

• Two fans located c. 1750 m BML and structurally up-dip from a potential significant fluid escape feature from the underlying pre-Cretaceous Diablo Ridge.
• Cumulative in-place un-risked prospective resources of 3.180 BBO (PMean) - Fan 1 – 984 MMBO (PMean), Fan 2 – 2,196 MMBO (PMean).
• Pre-stack seismic inversion and regional rock physics analysis shows Druid is consistent with a highly porous (30%) and high net-gross, light oil-filled sandstone reservoir system up to 85 m thick.
• A depth conformant Class II AVO anomaly is present and synthetic forward modelling of an oilwater contact correlates with the observed seismic response.
• Spectral decomposition, seismic compactional drape and mounding are reflective of a large sandrich submarine fan system with no significant internal faulting and clear demonstration of an up-dip trap mechanism.
• Geomechanical analysis using regional well and high resolution seismic velocity data indicates that Druid is normally pressured and the top seal is intact.

Drombeg Prospect (Lower Cretaceous)

• Located c. 2750 m BML and structurally up-dip from a potential significant fluid escape feature from the underlying pre-Cretaceous Diablo Ridge.
• In-place un-risked prospective resource of 1.915 BBO (PMean).
• Pre-stack seismic inversion and regional rock physics analysis shows Drombeg is consistent with a highly porous (20%), light oil-filled sandstone reservoir system up to 45 m thick.
• A depth conformant Class II AVO anomaly is present and spectral decomposition is reflective of a large sand-rich submarine fan system with no significant internal faulting, and supports an up-dip trap mechanism.
• Geomechanical analysis using regional well and high resolution seismic velocity data indicates that Drombeg is over-pressured with an intact top seal.
• The provisional location for a vertical well to test the two stacked prospects lies in c. 2,250 m water depth. The latest internal cost estimate for a dual objective Druid/Drombeg well is c. $85 million compared with the nearby c. $200 million Dunquin North exploration well, which was drilled to a similar depth in 2013.

John O’Sullivan, Technical Director of Providence, said: “These results from the Collaborative Project have confirmed the interpretation of two large stacked deep-water fan systems with associated seismic responses which are consistent with the presence of highly porous light oil bearing sandstone reservoir systems. Whilst our respective in-house technical teams initially generated and matured these prospects, our collaboration with Schlumberger has fundamentally ‘changed the game’ by leveraging proprietary technology and work-flows to de-risk significant hydrocarbon potential.”

Edited from press release by Angharad Lock

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/offshore-and-subsea/22042016/providence-resources-collaboration-project-with-schlumberger-update-603/