Falklands oil explorers will start their 2015 drilling campaign in March, shaking off concerns about low crude prices and sending their shares higher.
Drilling for oil and gas in the resource-rich Falklands area by London-listed companies remains controversial as a decades-long row between the UK and Argentina over the sovereignty of the islands has not been resolved.
Rockhopper and Falkland Oil and Gas said yesterday their shared drilling rig was being moved from west Africa to start work in the first week of March.
The drilling, which also involves Premier Oil and Noble Energy, will tap six wells over a roughly nine-month period using a rig contracted from Cyprus-based Ocean Rig.
Shares in the companies rose on the news, with Falkland Oil up by more than 17%, Rockhopper ahead nearly 9% and Premier Oil gaining 8.5%.
The first well to be drilled is the Zebedee in the North Falkland Basin, in which Falkland Oil owns a 40% stake and Premier Oil a 36% interest.
Falkland Oil chief executive Tim Bushell said: “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 1.4billion barrels of gross unrisked prospective resources.
“We have 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.”
In November, Premier Oil announced it was scaling back its Sea Lion project in the Falklands due to sinking oil prices – halving the amount of money it was prepared to invest.
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