2nd Feb 2015 10:32
LONDON (Alliance News) - Falkland Oil & Gas Ltd saw its shares rise Monday after it said the Eirik Raude rig had started to be moved from West Africa to the Falkland Islands for the 2015 drilling programme.
The rig will be operated by Premier Oil PLC and Noble Energy PLC, and drilling will start in March on the Premier-operated Zebedee well which will test the southern lobe of the Sea Lion field. The Isobel Deep well, also located in the North Falklands Basin, will be the second well in the programme, Falkland Oil & Gas said in a statement.
The planned drilling programme has been slightly modified to reduce the costs of multiplem rig moves around the Falkland Islands. After Isobel Deep, the rig will move to Jayne East, then to a well in which Falkland Oil & gas has no interest, then to the Humback will and then a second Noble-operated well. Falkland Oil & Gas has a 40% interest in each of the Zebedee, Isobel deep and Jayne East wells, and a 52.5% interest in Humpback.
"Interpretation of the 3D seismic acquired over FOGL's South Falkland Basin licenses is progressing well, but given the range of new prospects identified, this work is still ongoing and will not be completed until the end of March 2015. This work is now principally aimed at providing a shortlist of possible drilling targets for the second Noble operated well. Good progress has been made and the choice has been narrowed to three potential options, being: Stingray, Scharnhorst North or Starfish," the company said in a statement.
It added that based on the operators' cost estimates, it is funded for the four agreed wells. It said it had about USD100 million of cash at the end of 2014.
"Over the last 12 months we have worked hard to select the best prospects for drilling and have now, with our partners, put in place an exciting drilling programme targeting over 1.4 billion barrels of gross unrisked prospective resources. FOGL has the largest acreage position of any explorer in the Falklands Islands and the biggest exposure to the upcoming drilling campaign, the results of which have the potential to be transformational for us," Chief Executive Tim Bushell said in a statement.
Falkland Oil & Gas shares were up 14.5% at 24.61 pence Monday morning.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @stevemcgrath1
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
FOGL.L