Malcolm Graham-Wood had this to say about Providence today: News this morning that Providence have finally got the Stena IceMax on the move and is mobilising and will be at Druid/Drombeg on July 3rd will send shudders up the spine of all concerned. This well means so much, not just to PVR and all concerned there but as a frontier well of international significance. Everything now is pretty much in place and the knock-on effects will be felt across the industry should this be a success…
The last time I looked at the Icemax, I think it was under repair. It is now active. Hopefully it will be underway soon: [link]
Some news in the Irish Independent newspaper today about Ormonde. I would not be too worried about the buyer for Ormonde's product, as I am sure there are other buyers in the market place: [link]
I remember Jimmy saying a while ago that he knew people who had being in the data room for Barryroe. and that they were not going to invest, or something like that anyway. I remember being very surprised by those comments at the time, especially by the fact that he knew people who were attending the data room. Would be nice to hear a bit more about it, but I have a feeling that it may well have being an attempt at the time to undermine the ongoing talks.
I would say there is nothing wrong with Barryroe, based on the fact that a couple of companies were very close to putting money on the table to invest. That is as clear as you can get to showing that it is a good field.
Just read the Phoenix article, and goes over the history of Providence, which is hard reading and worse the the share holders that have lived through it to put it mildly. I had forgotten that when they had the last fund raiser they issued ten million shares to Melody and 38 million shares to the broker, Cenkos Securities. I wonder have have being selling their shares? Anyway to end on a better note, according to the Phoenix, Providence is now valued at 110 million euros at a share price of 19 cent. Assuming costs of about $30 a barrel, this would leave the Druid licence ( where Providence has 56%), with a possible net value of $10 billion - nearly 100 times the value of the company today. We have being following the dream for years now, so I hope for all our sakes that this drill works out.
Looking at this part of the Annual Statement, it would look like the best chance of a Farmout of Barryroe is if Druid is a massive success: The collapse in M&A activity, combined with the Company’s balance sheet constraints in the first half of 2016 made progress in completing a Barryroe farm in very challenging. However, following the recapitalisation of Providence in July 2016 and with some recovery in the oil price, farm in activity has increased. This has facilitated the Company in pursuing new commercial opportunities which are ongoing. It is an important objective of Providence to advance the appraisal and development of this important asset. With this in mind, the Company is commencing various pre-permitting activities in anticipation of future drilling.
I would see the fact the Tony is out of the country for a couple of weeks as a good sign, as it is most likely business related.