The Frontier Exploration Licence (FEL) 2/14 drilling project lies in c. 2,250 meter water depth in the southern Porcupine Basin and is located c. 220 kilometers off the south west coast of Ireland.

The license is operated by Providence Resources (80%) on behalf of its partner Sosina Exploration (20%). FEL 2/14 contains the Paleocene Druid and the Lower Cretaceous Drombeg exploration prospects.

Providence said on Thursday, November 24 the company has signed a contract for the provision of a harsh environment deepwater mobile drilling rig with Stena Drillmax Ice Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Stena International, for the Stena IceMAX drillship.

The Stena IceMAX is a harsh environment dual derrick drill-ship designed to operate in water depths of up to c. 3 km. The contract provides for one firm well, plus an additional option, which is electable at the discretion of the JV Partners for the drilling of a second follow-on well.

The operational rig rate is $185,000 per day. In addition to the finalization of the contract, Providence said that other key service contracts are now being prepared for the planned drilling operations. Based on the latest project timeline and, subject to standard regulatory approvals and consents, the 53/6-A exploration well is currently planned to spud in June 2017, the company stated.

Tony O’Reilly, Chief Executive of Providence said: “We are delighted to have signed this rig contract with Stena. Our previous exploration collaboration project with Schlumberger highlighted the significant hydrocarbon potential of FEL 2/14 which we will now be evaluating using the high specification Stena IceMAX drillship. The signing of this rig contract is a major milestone in the project plan to enable the drilling of this high impact exploration well during summer 2017.”