Member Info for Manyana

If APEC is a privately owned company why did Providence get into bed with them? How did they, a company that has actually traded nothing convince them to do that? Have you checked the APEC International website before you came to that conclusion?

How were Providence convinced that APEC had the finances to develop Barryroe when at minimum cost you are talking about $300m which was the sum Sequa tried to raise through bonds to develop it?

APEC says "APEC now provides upstream energy acquisition advice and management services in partnership with Chinese Oil Companies".. It does not say APEC do the development so who does it partner with when it says "Chinese Oil Companies"?

So for a moment I suggest you accept they are only a front for some Chinese oil conglomerate and I note from their website, which has not been updated for over a year, that they had some dealings with PetroChina.

Surely the best bet is for APEC to hand the deal over to say CNOOC (Nexen) or PetroChina even for a small fee and just get out of the way with the participating taking up the deal as it was written with APEC.

A bit of Chinese face might be saved as at the moment it is in the dirt with things like Hong Kong, South China Sea and Huawei.

Apec have no legal title to the 50% share unless they drill the wells and do a free carry for Providence. That is the price they paid for the 50%.

If they decide to do the surveys and drill the wells then they are entitled but you can be sure DCCAE will not let them keep the shares just for the hell of it and even if they decided to do that, DCCAE would never issue them a petroleum license to extract petroleum or gas without the whole matter being clean. Remember, DCCAE are the ultimate arbiters in all of this, not Providence or APEC.

The most logical move would be for CNOOC (Nexen) to take control of the APEC deal as they are both part of CNOOC International and it is worth a read to see what the Chinese plans for global oil are now and in the coming years.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-winning-offshore-oil-game-230000726.html?

Surely the Barryroe scenario fits easily into this strategy.

I missed this report back in November where it was decided a three-judge court could be used to judge this case. I note from the article that Judge Kelly is not too keen on it as he thinks the court has no real say in the constitution and I note Brid and her rabble might want to widen the scope which means they are running scared. So it is delayed until 20th January.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/high-court/three-judge-high-court-may-hear-case-on-alleged-frustration-of-bills-1.4087317

It would seem the judicial review of the "money message" issue was down for 17th December but seems to have been adjourned until 20th January. Here is the schedule of events and time table from the court registry.

So I don't see any real move for Barryroe until that is over and done with.

SMITH & ORS -V- CEANN COMHAIRLE 2019/791 JR
Date List Position Result Note
06/11/2019 ADV MR JUSTICE SIMONS 0044 Order
06/11/2019 ADV MR JUSTICE SIMONS 0045 NOD
06/11/2019 ADV MR JUSTICE SIMONS 0042 Order & Adjournment
06/11/2019 ADV MR JUSTICE SIMONS 0043 NOD
07/11/2019 ADV MR JUSTICE MEENAN 0019 Adjourned FM
17/12/2019 ADV MR JUSTICE MEENAN 0031 XX
05/12/2019 JUDICIAL REVIEW / FOR MENTION 0001 NOD
14/11/2019 JUDICIAL REVIEW / FOR MENTION 0003 Order and Adjournment
14/11/2019 JUDICIAL REVIEW / FOR MENTION 0000 TRA
18/11/2019 ADV MR JUSTICE KELLY 0005 Order and Adjournment
02/12/2019 ADV MR JUSTICE KELLY 0002 Order and Adjournment
02/12/2019 ADV MR JUSTICE KELLY 0003 Adjourned - no details available
20/01/2020 ADV MR JUSTICE KELLY 0000 XX
20/01/2020 ADV MR JUSTICE KELLY 0000 XX fdfh

People seem totally confused here.

APEC did not take a stake in Providence. They took a stake in EXOLA. Some years ago, Providence rolled Barryroe into EXOLA a wholly owned subsidiary.

The reason they did that was so that they could sell off Barryroe or a part of Barryroe by selling a share in the equity of EXOLA, hence the 50% sale to APEC, which is either dead or is in limbo as we have heard nothing about it for months and, it would appear, APEC are still the nominated owners of that 50% since it was transferred to them and registered to them.

This was actually a clever move by O'Reilly to segregate off Barryroe in this way because a major player would not necessarily want to invest in the rest of Providence's portfolio.

So, there is still the opportunity for somebody to come in and either take over the APEC deal or to buy out the whole of Barryroe by buying EXOLA.

But I don't think anybody would have wanted to buy anything until the Irish government clarified the situation regarding current and future licenses which they did yesterday. Hopefully this will be written into law soon and then I expect there will be a resolution to this sorry mess over licenses in Ireland.

There is still the Brid Smith judicial review of the "money message" issue which is due, I thought, today and once that too is put to bed there will be no reason why a deal cannot be done on Barryroe.

Does not affect current licenses - only future ones.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/business/government-to-review-tax-terms-on-future-gas-discoveries-971076.html

ps200306,

You really are a pessimist.

There is no doubt that Barryroe will be developed. 100m of water, potentially 1billion barrels of oil, terminus 50km away with capacity to handle 70k barrels a day. And while Barryroe is waxy it is not impossible to handle. Far better than Tullow with its sulpher and methane.

The only question is, will it be Providence developing it or somebody else.

I still have not heard a decent explanation as to why O'Reilly has left other than he might be sick and needs rest and recuperation but other than that, why did he leave if it is not to make way for a "white knight" who would refuse to work with him. Having suffered him for so many years with all the mistakes he made why would the APEC deal have killed him when the Sequa one did not or all the other promises he made which he failed to honour?

The only other alternative is that Barryroe is not what it is cracked up to be and we have been getting "porkies" for the last seven years but if that is the case why is Plunkett now singing the same song and even O'Reilly in his swan song was singing the same tune? And given that he had left why was O'Reilly's parting shot "I wish all stakeholders in Providence every success in the years ahead, particularly with the Barryroe Project.” if he thought Barryroe was a dead duck?

And as I pointed out yesterday, even if you discount Barryroe there is still Spanish Point where they found gas years ago and plenty of it. Now that the Corrib trouble makers are under control that is a good fit to supply into Corrib which has a limited life span so that surely gives value to Providence.

This does not affect Barryroe. It is for all new licenses that might be issued. In fact, this makes Barryroe a far more valuable entity if this new embargo is applied and, actually, is only there to satisfy the Brid Smith brigade as it shows the government are doing "something".

And, actually, Barryroe has a lot of gas which can be processed separately note "207 billion cubic feet (5.9 billion cubic metres) of gas." The hope would be that it could be developed using the Kinsale Energy infrastructure, which has now been approved for decommissioning by DCCAE as it is just about exhausted and sits above Barryroe and could be used to transport the gas to Cork cheaply.

https://www.dccae.gov.ie/en-ie/natural-resources/consultations/Pages/Decommissioning-of-certain-facilities-within-the-Kinsale-Head-and-Seven-Heads-Petroleum-Lease-areas.aspx

Looks like all future oil and gas licenses will be terminated. But current licenses will be honoured.

Official statement to be made today.

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/oil-exploration-to-be-banned-in-irish-waters-and-gas-to-be-phased-out-1.4117284

This has two benefits for Providence in Barryroe and in Spanish Point which could be a gas extension to Corrib. There is actually more gas in Spanish Point than there is in Corrib. But whereas Providence had two licenses here they relinquished the northern one last year.

At some time today there will be an announcement even though I thought the judicial review was also on today with Brid Smith ranting on.

Will we get a "Look How Well We have Done" end-of-year message this year?

Every year we have had one of those from Tony. It always reminded me of listening to a fairy story from my grandfather when I was a child, and he was a very good storyteller and we believed every word he said.

I wonder will Pat write one this year telling us how close we are to finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?

Will miss it if we don't get one. Always a stalwart at the year end if for nothing else but to prove Providence Resources still exists.

Here's hoping.

Yes, I think it is confusing.

You are correct that the original Barryroe is still 50% APEC and Lansdowne 10% but the one where
EXOLA and Lansdowne do not have an APEC interest is the extended area allocated to Barryroe which extends to the North of Barryroe as is an area probably as big as the original.

This does not have an APEC interest so could be developed as a totally separate license area by Providence, EXOLA and Lansdowne and, I presume, excludes San Leon because it was not part of the original Barryroe that they had their 4.5%nett interest in.

A very curious situation.

Try This

http://gis.dcenr.gov.ie/internetIPAS/servlet/internet/IPAS2IHome

Click on "Search Potential Fields"

Click on "Search Authorisations" which is one line up.

In the Operator Field put "Exola DAC" and click enter. Alternatively you can enter "Providence" for Operator and it will bring up all the Providence list.

In either case Click on LO12/4 to bring up Barryroe.

Good Luck

LongWait,

You forget that the ultimate arbiter in any oil or gas exploration in Ireland is at the behest of the Minister of Communications and not at the company level. If APEC was playing the dirty, it is clear DCCAE would step in and any shenanigans would be prevented. You cannot search, drill or produce oil or gas without DCCAE's say so. So playing silly b's would not go down well if they were s******g Irish companies.

Today, life got clearer but not certainly any better because Johnson's surprise victory in the UK elections makes a lot of things certain, especially Britain leaving the European Union. The surprise was not the victory but the margin. How that will affect Ireland is up for grabs because Johnson now has a totally free hand to do what he wants.

The reason why it can affect Ireland is trade and the oil and gas interconnectors. If the UK decides not to continue to supply oil and gas to Ireland what are the alternatives? That is why "native" oil and gas is so important for independence.

As Tara says in Gone With The Wind, "Tomorrow is another day". Just the right translation for "Manyana". Because nobody knows what it brings, good or bad.

When I checked the following some time ago it stated that Lansdowne had 10% and APEC had 50%. Today it states that only one participant in Barryroe which is owned by Providence Resources (EXOLA DAC) and Lansdowne has its 20% back.

Looks like APEC are definitely gone and the equity is back to 80%/20%.

http://gis.dcenr.gov.ie/internetIPAS/servlet/internet/IPAS2IAuthorisationDetailsPostTable

At least this is stage 1 completed.

As for major shareholders pushing O'Reilly out, it is the board of directors who decide who can and cannot serve on a board.

It is, of course, true that major shareholders can ask for his head but they have to also inform us, the shareholders, as we technically own the company so it would appear to met that a deal is in the offiing and part of the deal was that O'Reilly had to step down, i.e. falling on his own sword.

Two things.

Like you I am searching around for a reason why Tony is chucking in the towel. As far as we know, he has been in far worse situations over the last ten years and he did not do it then, so why now?

First of all, I thought the APEC deal was a bad one for Providence but a great one for APEC or anybody else on the terms negotiated when you consider that, for say $200m to develop Barryroe on a rolling basis, they got 50% of a multi-billion asset plus potentially 10% of Providence at 12p a share. So, it is amazing that APEC has not progressed the deal unless they have discovered something wrong and they are, in fact, a pack of chancers.

The big value to Providence in the APEC deal was it was a zero-cost carry. A no foal no fee oil deal so no risk to Providence and because they had no money it was the best deal in town but not necessarily the best deal.

Your point about Tony leaving is also very interesting as, like you, I cannot fathom how the current situation is any different to the last seven years where he bul****ted his way through gungho numerous times without any call for his head. So, as you say why is he leaving now as given the board structure there was nobody pushing him out?

One worry is that they have found something technically wrong with Barryroe, hence APEC's and any other's reluctance to take it on and Providence have been leading us on with "World class asset, etc..." for years and now the proverbial has hit the fan.

But Plunkett has put his head on the block by saying Barryroe is a world-class asset. So,like you, I have seen no logical explanation as to why Tony chucked in the towel especially as we are still getting the message from Plunkett's statement that Barryroe is a major asset when he said:

"A major milestone during his tenure at Providence was the successful drilling and testing of Barryroe located in the North Celtic Sea Basin which has provided the Company with a world class development asset which is capable of providing significant shareholder value in the coming years."

So he too is putting his proverbials on the chopper or Is he too telling porkies?

As Milton says "They also serve who only stand and wait". Why are we waiting and for how long?

It is only now that O'Reilly would be entitled to buy shares as he is no longer a director.

Directors cannot buy shares when there is information or discussions ongoing that can materially alter the company's value as it is classed as "insider trading".

So, if Providence was to develop Barryroe, O'Reilly could make a lot more money by buying now rather than depending on his salary which people regarded as exorbitant.

As for the speculation about the tie up between Providence and ex-Tullow, it would be a benefit as long as they come bearing "gifts" in the form of money to develop Barryroe. The Heavey/Hickey deal with Carlyle looks very promising but perhaps McDade and McCoss are going to join Boru instead.

Which is the Better Bet?

If Barryroe was developed it is in fact a better prospect than Tullow.

Tullow produces about 70,000 barrels of oil a day from 67 producing oil fields and has debts of $3.5billion. Barryroe has potentially production at 70,000 barrels a day which is anticipated to rise to 100,000 barrels a day from a single oil field and no debt.

Now that McCoss has quit Tullow does he plan to become CEO of Providence as he is currently the only active director in Providence even if it is as a non-exec.

This Tullow-Providence link up gets more curious and interesting day by day.

Hopefully, some resolution before Christmas would be nice and who is going to write the year-end review?

Probably because people did not want to work with O'Reilly. Now that he has gone, it will be interesting to see where it goes from here. After all, how often did he tell us over the years he was going to use the money to develop Barryroe but never did. Why? He was always chasing rainbows, in my opinion to be the big cheese of oil in Ireland.

And as for the actions since APEC did not come up with the money surely points to the fact that he did not intend to leave otherwise why did he go ahead and do the survey for the two sites which now sit "bit ready" to start drilling. That was surely not the actions of a man planning to leave.

Now that he has gone I am sure it is not in a total vacuum and something is in the wings. What that is remains to be seen. Hopefully we will know sooner rather than later and it is to the benefit of the shareholders. After all, if Plunkett, in the RNS, is to believed it has to be for the better when he said Barryroe is " a world class development asset which is capable of providing significant shareholder value in the coming years."

To me, the foremost action of a rudderless company is to be taken over. I presume we will know soon enough.

We could all do with a bit of that after all the pain it has caused us over the years.

Aidan Heavey, when he retired as Chairman of Tullow also said he would never go back into oil again as he was looking forward to his retirement.

Running around Africa does not seem like the best and he will be in competition with Tullow which seems a bit pointless, and will be starting from scratch. Boru are already two months running and nothing has appeared yet on their books.

Joining Plunkett and McCoss would certainly make it a "new" Tullow and I am sure if they offered the money to Plunkett and McCoss on a non-operational basis it would kick start Barryroe because money is the issue. Perhaps they could lend the funds to APEC to get on with it.

Boru Energy has nothing to do with Tullow other than its founders were both long term members of Tullow with Aidan Heavey, Tullows founder back in the 1980s until he retired two years ago.

They currently have access to $1billion thanks to Carlyle with the claim that it is investing in oil & gas opportunities across Sub-Saharan Africa. But Carlyle already has interests in the North Sea so perhaps Barryroe is also of interest to them.

After all, Barryroe only needs money to become successful and Carlyle has plenty of it.

http://www.boruenergy.com/