PROVIDENCE RES. Providence Resources P.L.C. - Update On Supreme Court Application

 
TIDMPVR 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   UPDATE ON SUPREME COURT APPLICATION 
 
   APPLICATION FOR PERMISSION TO APPEAL REFUSED 
 
   Dublin and London - November 9, 2016 - Providence Resources P.l.c. (PVR 
LN, PRP ID), the Irish based Oil and Gas Exploration Company 
("Providence" or "the Company"), today provides an update regarding the 
Company's application to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom seeking 
permission to appeal the Court of Appeal decision handed down on April 
13, 2016 which pertains to the prior litigation between the Company and 
Transocean Drilling U.K. Limited ("Transocean"), a subsidiary of 
Transocean Ltd.  This litigation arises from the use of the 
semi-submersible drilling unit, Arctic III, on the Barryroe oilfield 
offshore Ireland (Providence Resources P.l.c. 80%, Lansdowne Oil & Gas 
plc 20%) in 2011/2012.  By order dated November 2, 2016, the Supreme 
Court ordered that permission to appeal be refused as the appeal does 
not raise a point of law of general public importance. 
 
   Commenting on the announcement, Tony O'Reilly, Chief Executive of 
Providence Resources said: 
 
   "With this final legal matter now decided, litigation between the 
parties is ended.  With this matter behind us, we will continue to 
develop our very significant portfolio of assets offshore Ireland, with 
a particular focus on the farm-out processes for Barryroe and Spanish 
Point as well as our preparations for the planned drilling of Druid in 
2017." 
 
 
 
 
INVESTOR ENQUIRIES 
 
Providence Resources P.l.c.             Tel: [phone] 
Tony O'Reilly, Chief Executive Officer 
 
Cenkos Securities plc                   Tel: [phone] 
Neil McDonald/Derrick Lee 
 
J&E Davy                                Tel: [phone] 
Anthony Farrell 
 
 
MEDIA ENQUIRIES 
 
Powerscourt                             Tel: [phone] 
Lisa Kavanagh/Peter Ogden 
 
Murray Consultants                      Tel: [phone] 
Pauline McAlester 
 
   ABOUT PROVIDENCE RESOURCES 
 
   Providence Resources is an Irish based Oil and Gas Exploration Company 
with a portfolio of appraisal and exploration assets located offshore 
Ireland.  Providence's shares are quoted on AIM in London and the ESM in 
Dublin. 
 
   ABOUT THE LITIGATION 
 
   Commercial Court Ruling - December 2014 
 
   In May 2012, Transocean initiated proceedings against the Company for c. 
$19 million.  The Company counterclaimed pleading that Transocean was in 
breach of contract because their rig and their equipment were not in 
good working condition or adequate to conduct the drilling activities 
over most of a period from late December 2011 through to early February 
2012.  In December 2014, a judgment was handed down by the Commercial 
Court in London (the "First Instance Judgment") which confirmed the 
Company's case that it should not have to pay Transocean for those 
periods when the rig was not operable, due to breaches of contract 
arising from Transocean's failure to carry out maintenance on safety 
critical parts of its sub-sea equipment.  The First Instance Judgment 
also provided that the Company should also be allowed to set-off certain 
third party costs against Transocean's claim.  Pursuant to the First 
Instance Judgment, the Company paid a net amount of c. $6.15 million and 
Lansdowne paid c. $1.54 million. 
 
   Court of Appeal Ruling - April 2016 
 
   Transocean was granted the right to appeal one aspect of the First 
Instance Judgment.  In April 2016, the Court of Appeal ruled in favour 
of Transocean's appeal (the "Appeal Judgment").  The appeal of this one 
aspect of the First Instance Judgment turned on the Court of Appeal's 
interpretation of the wording of the consequential loss clause in the 
rig contract. 
 
   Following the Order of Her Majesty's Court of Appeal of England and 
Wales in April 2016 (the "EWCA Order"), the Company was ordered to pay 
Transocean a gross amount of c. $6.77 million in respect of certain 
amounts claimed by Transocean in the context of the original legal 
proceedings issued against the Company by Transocean in May 2012.  The 
EWCA Order further stated that the Company was required to pay part of 
Transocean's legal costs of the appeal in the sum of gross GBP225,000. 
As confirmed on July 20, 2016, the Company discharged the sums owing to 
Transocean in respect of the EWCA Order.  The EWCA Order also stated 
that any other matters in dispute between the Company and Transocean in 
the legal proceedings would be the subject of a further hearing in the 
Commercial Court in London unless otherwise resolved between the 
parties.  A date of October 14, 2016 was set for this hearing. 
 
   Commercial Court Ruling - October 2016 
 
   The matter considered by the Commercial Court on October 14, 2016 was 
whether Transocean was entitled to its legal costs (and interest 
thereon) in respect of the First Instance Judgment for the period from 
August 30, 2014, on the basis of Transocean having previously made an 
offer to the Company to reach a settlement in respect of those 
proceedings pursuant to Part 36 of the English Civil Procedure Rules 
(the "CPR").  Providence successfully defended its case that Transocean 
should not be entitled to all of these costs and, in the Judgement 
handed down on October 20, 2016, the Judge found that it would be unjust 
to apply the full Part 36 costs consequences in the circumstances of 
this case, including his previous criticisms of Transocean's conduct 
which he said "was not merely unreasonable but dishonest".  Based on the 
Judgment, Providence paid Transocean a gross figure of approximately 
GBP1.10 million (equivalent to approximately $1.35 million)  in respect 
of all outstanding costs, interest and principal sums, which compares to 
the previously estimated gross figure of $3.90 million. 
 
   As the Company's joint venture partner in Barryroe (20% interest), 
Lansdowne Oil & Gas plc is responsible for its share of all costs 
associated with the litigation. 
 
   This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf 
of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients. 
 
   The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely 
responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information 
contained therein. 
 
   Source: Providence Resources plc via Globenewswire 
 
 
  http://www.providenceresources.com/html/ 
 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 09, 2016 02:01 ET (07:01 GMT)

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