Fresh 3-D seismic data has uncovered a new Paleocene deepwater prospect in Ireland’s southern Porcupine Basin, Ireland-based Providence Resources Plc said June 10.

The Druid fan system, which spans about 400 sq km, follows the Drombeg prospect discovery located in the Lower Cretaceous with an estimated 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent (Bboe) in prospective resources. The new system is vertically stacked with the underlying Drombeg and sits in a water depth of about 2,500 m, about 220 km off Ireland’s west coast.

“These initial 3-D seismic observations at Druid are very encouraging given the considerable Paleocene exploration success that the neighboring U.K. West of Shetlands has enjoyed using similar 3-D seismic imaging and attribute analysis,” John O’Sullivan, technical director for Providence Resources, said in a news release.

Previous 2-D long offset seismic data alerted the company to the fan system’s presence in frontier exploration license (FEL) 2/14, but new 3-D seismic reflection data—acquired by Polarcus MC3D—confirmed its presence along with morphologies consistent with a thick sandstone reservoir system, Providence said.

“We have witnessed a step change uplift in the imaging of the Druid fan system versus the previous 2-D seismic data interpretation which now allows us to subdivide the fan into various sediment pulses and better understand potential reservoir sweet spots and intra-fan trapping morphologies which could be targeted with a future exploration well,” O’Sullivan added. “Further work is ongoing which will ultimately include an estimate of Druid’s prospective resource potential.”

Providence is not the only company searching for hydrocarbon pay in the area.

Kosmos Energy Ltd. (KOS), working with Europa Oil & Gas Plc, is also exploring offshore southwest Ireland in the Atlantic’s Porcupine Basin, where it has majority interest in three blocks. Part of $300 million in exploration capex in the 2015 capital program will be used for ongoing technical work in Ireland, according to a company presentation delivered this month.

After the completion of a Competent Persons Report by ERC Equipoise Ltd., Europa announced in May that it had identified a prospect and shot point location for a potential play-opening first well in FEL 3/13 and new prospects on FEL 2/13.

The three prospects in FEL 3/13—identified as Wilde, Beckett and Shaw—have a combined gross un-risked mean prospective resources of about 1.49 Bboe, according to Europa. The geological chance of success for the three ranges from 13% to 19%. All three are part of the Cretaceous submarine fan hydrocarbon play.

Hopes are high for the new prospects. However, success has not been had by all in the in past.

ExxonMobil’s (XOM) Dunquin North well, which Providence holds 16% interest, hit a 44-m oil column in the Lower Cretaceous about 70 km away from the Druid prospect. But the company reported in July 2013 that the 44/23-1 Dunquin exploration well did not find commercially recoverable hydrocarbons and made plans to plug and abandon the well.

Contact the author, Velda Addison, at vaddison@hartenergy.com.

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