ockhopper Petroleum said today it had begun to set out its stall to potential partners as it shifts into development mode on its Falklands Sea Lion field.
The firm, which will have drilled 10 wells on Sea Lion in the remote region by the end of the year, said it has prepared a data room for potential industry partners and debt providers.
Announcing its interim results to the end of September, it also increased the mid-case estimate of the oil in place on Sea Lion from 1.086billion barrels of oil to 1.297billion barrels.
Chief executive Sam Moody said: “The period ended September 30 has been our busiest yet. We have been using the rig continuously since April 28, completed an extensive 3D seismic campaign and made a good progress with a development concept.
“The focus has been on the appraisal work that has increased our view of both the amount and certainty of our prospective resource volumes.”
The firm said it had been “well received” by lending banks it had met, but would need to work up development costs and timings to progress discussion over finance.
Rockhopper said it expected to launch a pre-selection process for front end engineering and design work early next year.
A competent person’s report is due to be published around the end of March.
Group half-year losses at the firm were £20.8million, compared to £17.6million in the six months to the end of September in 2010.
It said it had, as at October 31, £120million of funds to cover the cost of ongoing activities.