PROVIDENCE RES. Providence Resources P.L.C. - Update On Supreme Court Application
November 09 2016 - 1:01AM
UK Regulatory
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: +353 1 219 4074
Tony O'Reilly, Chief Executive Officer
Cenkos Securities plc Tel: +44 131 220 9771
Neil McDonald/Derrick Lee
J&E Davy Tel: +353 1 679 6363
Anthony Farrell
MEDIA ENQUIRIES
Powerscourt Tel: +44 207 250 1446
Lisa Kavanagh/Peter Ogden
Murray Consultants Tel: +353 1 498 0300
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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