Providence Resources said its Barryroe licence may deliver further resources as it competed an evaluation of the area.

The surveys have indicated that the Lower Wealden and Purbeckian areas of the oil field could yield 778 million barrels of oil.

However, Providence said further data was needed to firm up the final resource estimates.

Technical director John O’Sullivan said the company’s focus would remain on progressing the Middle and Basal Wealden sands into development, but noted the additional resource potential at Barryroe was "encouraging".

"It is clear that more data are required over these intervals, however, the numbers are potentially material and provide room for significant resource growth in the Barryroe project in the longer term," he said.

Providence has an 80 per cent share in the project, with partner Lansdowne taking the remaining 20 per cent.

"This news further reinforces the prospectivity of the area," Davy said in a note. "It also suggests that Barryroe will not be the only development of Purbeckian oil in the Celtic Sea. The news is positive for the stock albeit that the resource identified has a lower technical confidence level than the Basal Wealden in-place resource identified at the end of July."