24th Apr 2008 07:01
Rockhopper Exploration plc24 April 2008 PRESS RELEASE 24 April 2008 Rockhopper Exploration plc ("Rockhopper" or "the Company") (AIM:RKH) Operational Update Rockhopper Exploration is pleased to provide the following operational update. •SPD appointed to provide drilling expertise •Appointment of farm-out specialist adviser •EIA on PL032 & PL033 commences •Geohazard assessment of possible drilling locations on PL032 & PL033 commences The Company announces that it has appointed SPD Group Limited ("SPD") (part ofthe Petrofac group) to undertake a range of well engineering services as part ofthe ongoing preparations for a drilling campaign in the North Falkland Basin.The agreement provides Rockhopper with access to a wide range of engineering andproject management services available from SPD including the provision of longlead equipment such as wellheads and casing. Rockhopper announces that it has simultaneously appointed Thompson Knight GlobalEnergy Services, a specialist adviser to oil and gas companies seeking farm-outarrangements, to assist in its drilling farm-out campaign. The Company has also appointed RPS Energy to undertake an Environmental ImpactAsssesment ("EIA") on licences PL032 & PL033 in preparation for drilling. TheEIA on licences PL023 & PL024 is already in progress. Finally, Rockhopper has commissioned CGG Veritas to reprocess the short offset3D data over licences PL032 and PL033. The Company will use this data toevaluate potential geohazards over a number of possible drilling locations,thereby eliminating the requirement to collect specialist hi-resolution seismic.This reprocessing is likely to take approximately 8 weeks. Following the reprocessing and evaluation of this data and completion of theEIAs, the Company expects to be ready to drill 2 to 4 targets across itsacreage. These 2 to 4 wells, when added to the 4 wells to be drilled by Desire and itsnew partner (Rockhopper will also participate in a number of these wells) resultin a potential 8 well campaign in the North Falkland Basin. These developments follow the evaluation of seismic data and the identificationof unrisked prospects that the Company's Board estimates may contain over 3.5bnbarrels of recoverable oil on the acreage licensed to Rockhopper. Pierre Jungels, Rockhopper Exploration's Executive Chairman, commented: "We are now moving into the final phase prior to drilling. We have identified anumber of targets in PL032 & PL033 on the 3D seismic which are of sufficientlylow risk for us to drill in addition to the Ernest prospect and we are waitingto see what the interpretation of the new 2D over Weddell shows us. It is a huge advantage for us to have SPD onside bringing both experience ofdrilling and access to long lead items. We believe that our acreage is of low to medium risk in the global explorationsetting with potential to find over 3.5 billion barrels of recoverable oil usingconservative parameters and that this should prove to be of considerableinterest to the industry in the current environment. We are continuing to move forward towards our ultimate goal of drilling between2 and 4 wells on our operated acreage, in addition to participating in otherwells in the Basin. The 3D still looks hugely encouraging, we are moving forward on our workprogramme and with the interpretation of the new 2D on Weddell to come shortly,we feel that 2008 will prove to be an extremely exciting year for Rockhopper." NB: This statement has been approved by the Company's geological staff whoinclude David Bodecott (Exploration Director), who is a Member of PetroleumExploration Society of Great Britain (PESGB) and the American Association ofPetroleum Geologists (AAPG) with over 30 years of experience in petroleumexploration and management, for the purpose of the Guidance Note for Mining, Oiland Gas Companies issued by the London Stock Exchange in respect of AIMcompanies, which outline standards of disclosure for mineral projects. For further information, please contact: Rockhopper Exploration plc www.rockhopperexploration.co.ukSam Moody - Managing Director 01722 414 419 Aquila Financial Ltd www.aquila-financial.comPeter Reilly 0118 979 4100 Landsbanki Securities (UK) Limited www.landsbanki.co.ukTom Hulme 020 7426 9000 Notes to editors www.rockhopperexploration.co.uk The Rockhopper Group started trading in February 2004 to invest in and carry outan offshore oil exploration programme to the north of the Falkland Islands. TheGroup, floated on AIM in August 2005, has a 100 per cent. interest in fouroffshore production licences which cover approximately 3,800 sq. km. Theselicences have been granted by the Falkland Islands government. Thompson & KnightEstablished in 1887, Thompson & Knight today is a global law firm withapproximately 420 attorneys and offices and associations in the U.S., Mexico,Brazil, North Africa, Europe, and Asia. In addition to providing a wide range oftraditional legal services to clients in many industries, the firm has extensiveexperience in the energy industry; Thompson & Knight is one of the world'spremier energy firms having rendered services to companies in almost allcountries around the globe with a significant petroleum industry and market. Thompson & Knight Global Energy Services, LLC ("TKGES") is a wholly ownedsubsidiary of Thompson & Knight law firm. TKGES provides integrated technicaland economic evaluations of exploration and production projects and assistsworldwide clients in their business development, acquisition and divestment,risk assessment and portfolio management efforts. TKGES' client base includesNOCs, IOC and independent oil companies from the USA, Latin America, Europe,Middle East, and Asia. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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