Shares in exploration company Providence Resources slumped this morning after it reported "disappointing news" from its Frontier Exploration Licence 2/14, off the coast of Ireland.
The licence is located in the southern Porcupine Basin, about 220km off the south-west coast of Ireland.
The company said the well is currently being plugged and abandoned after which the Stena IceMAX, which had drilled the well, will be demobilised from Irish waters.
In a statement, Providence said the well contained "a porous water-bearing reservoir interval".
"The possible presence of bitumen was reported in drill cuttings within the Drombeg reservoir interval which may indicate that it received an oil charge which was not retained at this location," the company said
It added that further studies will be required in order to confirm this interpretation and its implications for the wider prospectivity within the licence.
The well was situated in the deepest water of any exploration well ever drilled offshore Ireland.
The company said it marked an "important operational milestone" for Providence, being its "first harsh environment ultra-deep water well operation".
"The 53/6-1 well results at the Drombeg level are disappointing and we will now assess these well data in order to understand what implications they have for prospectivity within the licence," commented Providence's chief executive Tony O'Reilly.
But the CEO added that through the company's pre-drill commercial deals with Cairn and TOTAL, its financial exposure to the well was significantly reduced.
This ensured that the company remains well funded for its forward drilling operations offshore Ireland, with Barryroe being planned as our next well in this programme, he added.
Shares in the company were sharply lower in Dublin trade today.
