Providence Resources Plc reports that 3D seismic of its Druid exploration prospect in Frontier Exploration License 2/14 in the southern Porcupine Basin, found about 220km offshore southwest Ireland in 2500m water depth, looks encouraging. The Druid prospect is vertically stacked above the underlying Lower Cretaceous Drombeg prospect.
"These initial 3D seismic observations at Druid are very encouraging, given the considerable Paleocene exploration success that the neighboring UK West of Shetlands has enjoyed using similar 3D seismic imaging and attribute analysis,” says John O'Sullivan, technical director for Providence.
“We have witnessed a step change uplift in the imaging of the Druid fan system versus the previous 2D 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. Further work is ongoing, which will ultimately include an estimate of Druid's prospective resource potential."
The prospect is operated by Providence (with 80% interest) on behalf of its partner Sosina Exploration (20%). The license is about 70km southwest of the 2013 ExxonMobil-operated 44/23-1 Dunquin North exploration well, in which Providence holds a 16% interest, and which encountered a 44m residual oil column in Lower Cretaceous carbonates.
Providence completed the initial assessment of the Paleocene FEL 2/14 section using the newly acquired Polarcus MC3D seismic reflection data. The interpretation confirmed the presence of a large, 400sq km Paleocene deepwater fan system, named Druid, which was apparent on the previous 2D long offset seismic profiles. Druid is the second large prospect to be identified in FEL 2/14, following the previously identified Lower Cretaceous Drombeg prospect that contains an estimated P50-prospective resource of about 1.050 billion boe.
Providence reports that the new 3D data provide a significant uplift in the detailed imaging of the internal depositional architecture within the Druid fan system and confirm that it has been sourced from the Porcupine Bank to the northwest. The central 60sq km of the fan system exhibits “marked mounded seismic morphologies, which have previously been modelled to be consistent with a thick (up to circa 120m), high porosity (up to circa 25%), shallowly buried (circa 1,700m BML), sandstone reservoir system,” reports the company.
According to the data, the mounded central part of the Druid fan exhibits a marked Class II AVO anomaly that appears to be terminated in the up-dip direction by an erosive intra-fan channel with the AVO anomaly appearing to be depth consistent in the down-dip direction. The AVO anomaly also appears to be associated with a fluid escape feature from an underlying, deeply buried pre-Cretaceous rotated fault block, which suggests that it could be a direct hydrocarbon indicator (DHI). Further analyses of the 3D data to confirm this initial DHI assessment are ongoing.
Providence compares this discovery with Amoco’s report of light-tan oil bleeding from a Paleocene deepwater sandstone core taken in their 1988 35/18-1 well drilled in Cairn-operated FEL 1/14 (in which Providence holds 58%) about 190km to the east-northeast of Druid.
Providence has agreed to assign a 15% equity interest in FEL1/14 to Chrysaor CNS Ltd. that is currently subject to Irish ministerial approval and which will reduce Providence's equity interest from 58% to 43%.
Image: The Polarcus Amani 3D seismic vessel / Polarcus
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