Desire Petroleum

<>Desire Petroleum plc (Desire) is a UK company listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) dedicated to exploring for oil and gas in the North Falkland Basin.

Desire has recently completed a 6 well exploration programme. The Liz well encountered dry gas and gas condensate at 2 separate levels while other wells recorded shows.
Together with the Rockhopper Exploration Sea Lion oil discovery in the licence to the north, these wells have provided significant encouragement for the potential of the North Falkland Basin. The oil at Sea Lion is of particular interest as this has demonstrated that oil is trapped in potentially significant quantities in a fan sandstone on the east flank of the basin. It is believed that over 50% of this east flank play fairway is on Desire operated acreage.

Desire has now completed new 3D seismic acquisition which provides coverage over the east flank play, Ann, Pam and Helen prospects. The results from fast-track processing of priority areas are provided in the 2011 CPR. A farm-out to Rockhopper has been announced. The revised equities are shown on the licence map (subject to regulatory approval and completion of the farm-in well). Desire Petroleum

Rockhopper Exploration

British Geological Survey

Argos Resources



Latest Press Realeses from Desire

Desires Arcadian dream pays out to tune of 85%
Flag raised for first drilling campaign in years
Published: 01/09/2008


Map showing status of North Falklands licences
More Pictures
This was a very badly kept secret at last Arcadia Petroleum has Falkland Islands government approval to farm into North Falklands Basin Tranches C and I.

The administration in Port Stanley has also granted Desire and Arcadia new acreage adjacent to Desires existing stakeholding in Tranche I in the north.

Under the terms of the farm-out, Arcadia will drill and test the Ann prospect, paying 85% of the costs to earn a 35% interest in a sub-area of Tranche C covering the Ann and Orca South prospects.

Rockhopper Exploration, as part of a larger arrangement, will be funding the remaining 15% of the Ann well costs to earn a 7.5% interest in Tranches C and D.

The end result is that Desire will have a 57.5% interest in the Ann prospect, for which the potentially recoverable reserves are 200million barrels of oil. Desire puts the chances of making a hydrocarbons discovery at 50%, having reinforced its case with an AVO survey.

In a nutshell, AVO is a way of high-grading bright spots on seismic sections and of finding subtle anomalies. It stands for Amplitude Versus Offset. AVO can help to answer the question of whether that amplitude anomaly is due to gas or tight carbonate cement, or coal, or salt, and so forth.

Arcadia will also drill and test a major new prospect named Alpha, paying 100% of the costs to earn 50% in block 25/10 and part of block 25/15. This prospect also extends into the newly awarded blocks 25/8, 25/9 and 25/14b, where Arcadia has an 80% interest and Desire 20%.

Based on current mapping, Desire has calculated that it has about a 30% interest in the total Alpha prospect.

Alpha is described by Desire as a large, well defined structural closure covering an area of more than 300sq km.

It is associated with a very strong AVO anomaly which, in addition to significantly de-risking the prospect, suggests that the reservoir is gas-charged.

The companys mid-estimate for the potential recoverable reserves for Alpha is 7.8trillion cu ft of gas, with 15TCF as a possibility.

These volumes are considered more than adequate for a commercial gas development in the event of a discovery.

This prospect represents an exciting new major exploration play in the North Falkland Basin.

Besides drilling two wells, Arcadia will also pay the associated mobilisation and demobilisation costs. Further, Desire has undertaken to drill two wells for its own account.

Desires chairman, Stephen Phipps, said in a statement: The majority of the prospects in the Desire inventory are still held 100% by Desire, and with the funds currently available and at current rig rates, we are able to drill two of these for our own account.

With our new partner on board, we are now in a far stronger position to pursue actively all available rig opportunities for drilling our prospects

http://www.falklands.gov.fk/minerals.php

OIL and MINERALS


OIL

Exploration for oil offshore the Falkland Islands is at a very early stage and no commercial discoveries have been made yet. In 1998 six wells were drilled to the north of the Islands resulting in a wealth of geological data. These first wells proved the presence of a very rich organic source rock that could have generated up to 60 billion barrels of oil, bringing oil to the surface in one well and finding quantities of gas in another.

Strict environmental legislation regarding offshore surveying and drilling activities is in place. Licensed areas are well away from the coastline and companies are required to prepare environmental impact assessments and oil spill plans when planning drilling activities. In order to safeguard the fishery, seismic surveys are restricted in critical areas at specific times of the year. Oil companies operating offshore have also been able to collect new oceanographic and wildlife data, enhancing knowledge of the area.

As a result of rising oil prices, the Falkland Islands have become a more attractive frontier area for exploration, with a number of companies being licensed to explore for oil. The Falkland Islands Government actively encourages licensees to cooperate in order to share facilities, rigs and data to maximise opportunities to drill when they arise. Joint operator meetings are held regularly in London and in the Islands where companies can share information.

If a suitable drilling rig can be found, it is anticipated that an exploration programme will take place possibly in 2009 or 2010. The Falkland Islands Government is well prepared for an exploration drilling phase and has robust legislation in place that mirrors North Sea regulations, particularly in the areas of health and safety and the environment.

Further information can be found on www.falklands-oil.com

Marky- still flying the flag I see. Well done for keeping the faith. Not sure I like 2010 being mentioned- I don't rememeber that before.

.

"Desire Petroleum plc (AIM:DES) is pleased to announce the completion of its benthic sampling programme on Tranches I and L and PL 034 which was recently awarded to Desire and Arcadia Petroleum Ltd.
This programme was undertaken jointly with Rockhopper Exploration plc who collected samples on adjacent acreage. The programme was supported and arranged by Byron Marine.
Once analysed, the results will allow Desire Petroleum plc to complete its Environmental Impact Assessment ahead of drilling."

Ho Ho Ho.

guess it's gonna be a waiting game......with the price of oil drifting, not much sign of any upward movement till the rig is booked and heading south

http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200809121000033121D.html

Looking very good for drilling to start late 08 or early 09

Rough seas and HMS Desire is still sailing before the wind......lets hope a few more
financial corner stones hit the deck enabling us to top up at a discount

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/markets/article4805955.eceDeal of the day

Andrew Windham, a non-executive director of Desire Petroleum, which is exploring north of the Falkland Islands for oil and gas, bought 7,100 shares at 68.95p each. The shares, up 5p at 70p, have fallen from their 105p spring high as the price of oil has come down and amid uncertainty about how long Desire will have to wait before drilling can begin.

http://www.britishbulls.com/StockPage.asp?CompanyTicker=DES&MarketTicker=RESOURCES&Typ=S

Buy confirmed today

all the ups and downs are going to be related to oil price...until the rig is obtained and then the reason we are in or waiting to get in will be confirmed......glad i am in now.....i hope the weather down there is a factor because spring is on the horizon

watcher

RPS Group who we know are coordinating the technical side of the FI drilling campaign have in the last two weeks have up another job application (out up 18 sep). Application expires Nov 08. This is a good sign everyone for drilling activities Dec08/Jan09

http://www.oilcareers.com/content/jobsearch/job_advert.asp?jobadid=115491

http://www.oilcareers.com/regions/730/FALKLANDISLANDS(MALVINAS)_Energy.asp

RPS GROUP PLC Energy Division
The RPS Group is a planning and development, energy resources and environmental management consultancy that provides professional advice and supports services to SMEs, private sector developers, local authorities, public utilities, regional development agencies, government departments, multi-national organisations and NGOs.

RPS Energy is a multi-disciplinary consultancy, providing Technical, Commercial and Project Management Support services in the fields of operations, geoscience, engineering and HS&E to the energy sector worldwide. RPS Energy services the oil and gas, renewables and nuclear sectors from operating bases in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and Malaysia.

Role: Well site Geologists

Reports to: Sector Director
Location: Global

Main Responsibilities
Ensuring the geological objectives of a well program are achieved.
Supervision and quality assurance of geological service companies and contractors, including mud logging, LWD/MWD, wireline, geochemistry
Accurate recording and reporting of well data
Description of all samples - lithology and shows.
Picking of casing and coring points, and core description.
Compilation of a geological wellsite log
Preparation, transmission and archiving of all required reports and logs on a daily, weekly and as-required basis.
Ensuring that all geological operations are carried out under HSE conditions

Experience Required
The candidate should possess:
Degree in related field
5 yrs + mud logging experience
Horizontal geo-steering
HPHT wells
Deepwater drilling
Wireline logging supervision

Benefits
Excellent day rate

http://www.bgs.ac.uk/falklands-oil/download/news.pdf

Falkland Islands Government
Department of Mineral Resources

Bad news from Falklands

Easy to be negative hlyeo98

Point is - the only possible negative prior to drilling is the credit crunch affecting Arcadia's resourcing of a rig.

Anyone have credible info on their cash position (or security of borrowing)?

Other than that, sit tight for the announcement.

Sitting tight may lead to 20p as was forecast several months earlier. BOR has seen that fate now.

This was an excerpt from the article in May

Tim Heeley, a Daniel Stewart analyst, pointed out that Rockhopper would need ten times more cash to fund its commitment to Desire, an indication that Desire is a long way from being able to drill. Mr Heeley reiterated sell advice on both stocks, with targets of 20p on Desire and 25p on Rockhopper."

hlyeo98 you must be a little slow as that was a very old report ....Your making your self sound a proper plonker...grow up!!

Tim Heeley
Head of Oil and Gas (Equity Research)
18th August 2008

Desire has just announced the conclusion of its farm in deal which it preliminarily announced way back in Q1.

Arcadia has been confirmed as the farm in partner. Arcadia is a private company which is partly controlled by John Fredriksen, a Norwegian/Cypriot shipping magnet, which in turn controls Smedvig and Seadrill drilling contracts and rig owners respectively.


The details of the deal are:


Tranche C Ann Prospect


Arcadia will drill and test Ann Pay 85% for 35% Interest. Rockhopper will have to pay 15% to get 7.5% interest in the licence.

Desire retain 57.5% interest have no costs and retain operatorship


As a negative, we note no definite drilling plans have been announced nor any time schedules. We also note a 50% COS is very high, and a more expected figure in a frontier basin would be around 15-20%. Either way, a well has to be drilled to confirm the presence of hydrocarbons and in a sense the COS is effectively an academic exercise to internally target prospects.


However this is a very good deal for Desire, less so for Rockhopper however as they will have to pay for 15% of the well, as such, we feel Rockhopper will almost certainly have to raise further capital or farm this prospect down themselves.


Tranche I Alpha Prospect


Arcadia is to pay 100% for a 50% stake in on this prospect. The target structure lies across 100% Desire Acreage and as such unitisation means Desire holds a 30% interest. Of the new awarded blocks Arcadia holds 80% and Deisre 20%.


In addition Desire has indicated that the Alpha prospect is most likely a gas prospect and as such we feel the economics will be much more marginal than an oil prospect given the remoteness of the islands and size of discovery required to justify the expense of gas infrastructure.


In addition Desire is to drill 2 wells on its own account including inter basin Mob/Demob, whilst the current cash of 21mn maybe just about sufficient to drill the two wells we feel that with costs associated with full drilling preparation and a thought for continued operations then further capital will have to be raised.

Price Review


Still cannot attach firm values and using Estimated Monetary Value (EMV) techniques is not appropriate, principally due to small companies not having the ability to add value across their entire asset bases in a timely or cost effective manner.


Without doubt this is an excellent deal from Desires perspective, Arcadia has connections to excellent O&G resources, so much so that we are amazed that it has not demanded operatorship. Even with this excellent deal we feel Desire is still a little bit over priced and note there is no more real event driven news until we get a date for drilling, as such we change our recommendation to HOLD and change our price to 60p based on the zero cost nature of the farm out but being fully aware that cash is still to be spent on the 2 Desire wells, clearly the next piece of news has to be a drilling date, but experience has shown this could be a considerable period.


For Rockhopper this is also positive news as it means they will be involved in a well if they of course exercise the option, although it will reduce its already low cash reserves. We await further news on its own acreage, and its intention to fulfill the farm in to Desires acreage. We change our recommendation to Hold and a 50p target.


Positive development, good partner with limited E&P experience but the right connections. Critically, we await definitive news on an indented drilling schedule.


Rockhopper (RKH.L) HOLD 50p (from SELL 40p)

Desire (DES.L) HOLD 60p (from Sell 40p)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tim Heeley
Head of Oil and Gas (Equity Research)

Daniel Stewart & Company Plc
Becket House, 36 Old Jewry, London EC2R 8DD

direct dial: +44(0)20 7776 6933
mobile: +44(0)7956 525433
email: tim.heeley@danielstewart.co.uk

26th August

Rockhopper Exploration - HOLD Price: 88.75p Target price: 50p Code: RKH.L Analyst: Tim Heeley | 020 7776 6933


Operations Update
Announcement of revised basin model and interpretation of new 3D data. The company states larger basins and also gas prospects within licensed area and is also looking to secure a 6 well slot in the North Falkland basin with Arcadia and Desire.
The company, furthermore, has stated its intention to drill 2 wells on its own account, plus the additional 2 wells it will farm into for 15% for a 7.5% stake in the Desire acreage.
Of note, to drill the Desire interest wells plus 2 of its own, we estimate Rockhopper could incur costs in the region of $25m (based on 30 day wells and $350k/day rates) and as such a further fund raise is required ahead of drilling.
Without a firm drilling announcement there is no more value driving news flow for Rockhopper, or indeed Desire, and as such maintain our hold recommendation.