First oil in prospect off Falkland Islands

Offshore staff

PORT STANLEY -- Rockhopper Exploration may have discovered oil with its first well in the offshore North Falklands Basin.

Well 14/10-2 – the second in a multi-client campaign off the Faklkands using the semi-sub Ocean Guardian – encountered a 150-m (492-ft) gross interval of sand and shales, according to wireline logs and logging data.

Initial analysis indicates oil, Rockhopper says, with 53 m (174 ft) of net pay distributed in multiple pay zones, of which the thickest has net pay of 25 m (82 ft). Average porosity for these pay zones is 19%.

The company plans to acquire further logging information before deciding whether to plug and abandon the well, or to drill an appraisal well on Sea Lion later in the campaign. The company has also lined up a well on the Ernest prospect.

05/06/2010