Irish exploration company Providence Resources has extended yet again the deadline for the receipt of $10 million (€8.9 million) in funding to cover exploration costs for its Barryroe project.
Chinese company Apec had been due to transfer $10 million to Providence's account – $9 million to cover exploration costs at Barryroe and $1 million to cover Apec's costs – by June 14th. That deadline was extended to July 5th, and subsequently to July 10th, July 12th, July 19th and July 26th with Apec citing issues with "internal transaction processing with their investors". The latest delay sees the new deadline set for August 2nd.
In a note to the stock market on Monday, Providence said no funds had been received by the close of business on July 26th. However, it said it had received a copy of further documentation provided to Apec's funders by HSBC showing that $10 million has been debited for payment to Providence's designated account.
“The documentation confirms that the payment date is still pending due to final processing by HSBC,” Providence said in a statement.
The update to the Irish Stock Exchange means the saga drags on for another week. The deal dates back to March 2018, when Providence announced Apec had agreed to take a 50 per cent stake in Barryroe, and in return would fund half of the cost of a $200 million five-well drilling programme at the project and lend Providence and 10 per cent stakeholder Lansdowne Oil & Gas money to cover their costs.
The Barryroe prospect lies in about 100m water depth in the North Celtic Sea Basin, some 50km off the south coast of Ireland.
