16th Sep 2014 10:19
LONDON (Alliance News) - Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd Tuesday said it has sufficient funds for its proposed five-well drilling program, due to commence in 2015.
The company reported a pretax loss of USD1.3 million for the six months ended June 30, compared to a USD941,000 loss in the comparable period in 2013.
"The first half of 2014 was marked by two major achievements, with the completion of a large 3D seismic programme and the contracting of a deep-water rig," said Chairman Richard Liddell.
"In the South Falkland Basin, multiple prospects have been identified from the 3D seismic data," Liddell added. "We are continuing to evaluate the seismic data in order to finalise well locations for the 2015 drilling campaign."
Falkland Oil and Gas said it has sufficient funds for its proposed drilling program, approved by the license holders, with USD108.7 million in the bank on June 30.
"Drilling is expected to commence in 2015. In the South Falkland Basin, where Falkland Oil and Gas has a 52.5% working interest, the drilling programme will include two deep-water wells operated by Noble Energy Inc," it said.
"In the North Falkland Basin three wells are planned, all operated by Premier Oil PLC. These include appraisal drilling on the Sea Lion field in Zebedee and exploration wells on the Jayne and Isobel/Elaine prospects. Falkland Oil and Gas has a 40% working interest in these wells," said the company.
A deep-water harsh environment semi-submersible ocean rig has been contracted by its partners Noble Energy and Premier Oil for the multi-well drilling programme, due to arrive in the first quarter of 2015, it added.
The five-well drilling programme is targeting over 1.3 billion barrels of gross prospective resources, it said.
Having an "interest of at least 40% in each licence ensures shareholders will have substantial equity exposure to these resources in the case of success," said Falkland Oil and Gas.
"With our substantial partners and our strong financial position, we are well placed to capitalise on the opportunities that have been identified across our licences offshore the Falkland Islands. We have made excellent progress in preparing for the drilling campaign which could transform the Company," said Liddell.
Falkland Oil and Gas' shares were down 3.6% to 28.80 pence per share Tuesday morning.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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