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

Desire Petroleums Chairman Stephen Phipps, Chief Executive Officer Dr Ian Duncan and Finance Director Eddie Wisniewski are due to arrive next week for a round of meetings with government officials and others. They will be accompanied by Ben Romney from Buchanan (Desires PR consultancy) and Robert Watts, a journalist from the oil industry magazine Upstream.
Three representatives from Rockhopper Exploration are also scheduled to arrive next weekend.

The Ocean Guardian, under tow by the Maersk Traveller, is still on schedule to arrive in early February; Desires Falklands representative Lewis Clifton confirmed this week.
A second Maersk anchor handling tug supply vessel is due to arrive late this month, and the third rig support ship, a platform supply vessel, will complete the offshore drilling support package, he said.

The pace dockside is about to pick up with the first of two cargo ships, Thor Leader, carrying oil equipment from UK, arriving next week. The second cargo ship, Honest Rays, arrives on January 15. Mr Clifton said discharge operations would be undertaken 24 hours a day until the 14,000 tons of equipment onboard were sorted and stored, pending the arrival of the Ocean Guardian.
Onshore specialised support personnel will begin arriving in Stanley during the next few days. Mr Clifton said up to 12 personnel would be based in Stanley for the duration of the drilling programme.

As with oil rig workers, these personnel will rotate 28 days on and 28 days off.
The shore support personnel will be largely based out of the integrated pipe yard and laydown facility being constructed at Coastel Road by Byron McKay Port Services, of which Mr Clifton is a director. The facility will include modularised office and warehouse accommodation, and the silo plants (muds and cement bulk storage), although other private sector facilities will also be utilised.

Mr Clifton said Byron McKay Port Services had secured an on-shore services support contract, and were working with AGR Petroleum Services - the oil operators contractor - to provide the ship-shore-ship logistics support interface.
A number of local appointments have been made to support the contract terms. These include an aviation coordinator and a number of operatives, slings men, labourers and stevedores. A two week training programme for operatives was undertaken during early December under training guidance brought in from Aberdeen, said Mr Clifton, adding that security personnel would also be appointed for the duration of the drilling programme.

Helicopter support operations are to be provided by British International with an airframe due to arrive on the Ministry of Defence freighter next week. Mr Clifton said work was also progressing towards bringing back on line the helicopter refuelling facility at Cape Dolphin on East Falkland, which was set up during the last drilling round in 1998. However, unlike in 1998 when the Borgny Dolphin oil rig was visible off Cape Pembroke, the Ocean Guardian is unlikely to come into sight on arrival, said Mr Clifton.
Source: Penguin News

Just a progress update on OG. The tow is now back underway from Porto De Suape or will be in the next few hours. Crew change is now done and drill water has been loaded. She headed for Vitoria, as prevously mentioned. This is for the Maersk Traveller to get bunkers. Bunkers were to be loaded in Salvador but this was changed for operational reasons. The tow to Vitoria should take around 6 days. Total tow time from Porto De Suape should be around 25days. This includes the stop in Vitoria.

Thanks, Markymar for the update, how do you find out about OG's location?

I have a crystal ball,that also told me to Buy RKH share at 12p!!!!and Desire well i have a boat load........happy days

Well done, marky. I entered BOR at 45p. Are in in BOR too?

arguably a bit early, i top-sliced on friday, for there is certainly a danger that sp is getting too far ahead of the game

at last he agree's with me!!

BB - don't agree with your post 3379, but to reiterate yet again, a profit's only a profit when it's in the bank, and it's very very easy to get carried away by greed, and thus end with (less than) nothing

Well done cynic i still think it will rise to 1.50+ this week.......time will see,i expect news with talk going on in Falklands.

Hi Hlyeo,
Am not in to Bor at all and i cant get my head round them and until i know what prospects they have and what they might hold i will not buy a single share. Its a bit like buying a lucky bag you dont know what youre getting, before i give any one my money i want to know what am getting.

So far with Borders you dont know what prospects they hold or what size they are

They have no EIA they cant drill until it is passed

They have no partner to help with cost of drilling....Time is passing them by suggesting no one wants to partner them.

They have no rig and no time table

I will even go to say they may not even have a licence any more as it has run out unless someone can show me some evidence

The Company is also pleased to announce that the Falkland Islands Government has granted a two-year extension to its licences in the South Falkland Basin, southeast of the Falkland Islands. The extension applies to the Initial Term of licences PL018 to PL022 with the provision that Borders & Southern acquires in excess of 750 sq km of 3D seismic data. This will mean the first exploration period will now be five years and will end on 1 November 2009. There will be no relinquishment of acreage before that date.

DES market cap 414 mill hold all the cards to who drills and best prospects

BOR..................324 mill over rated...110 MILL IN BANK AND THATS ALL THEY HAVE

FOGL...............259 mill may drill one hole with rig or wait till drill ship next year

RKH.................150 mill...still a bargain and will drill sea lion prospect
Prospect after Liz and Pam

Desire Petroleum (LSE: DES): Desire holds licences in the shallow waters of the North Falklands Basin. It has contracted the Ocean Guardian drilling rig. It expects to drill four wells, starting in February. Evaluation of its top ten prospects has indicated prospective recoverable resources of over three billion barrels (boe).

Rockhopper (LSE: RKH): Rockhopper is the largest licence holder in the North Falkland Basin. It has indicated a possible 4.3bn boe in its licence area. The Ocean Guardian will drill two wells on its wholly-owned blocks.

Borders & Southern (LSE: BOR): Borders & Southern holds a 100% interest in five production licences in the South Falkland Basin. It has been cagey about how much oil could be here, referring only to "multiple targets". The biggest of these could contain over 1bn boe. It has also alluded to the contiguous Malvinas and Magallanes Basins to the west where discoveries of six billion boe have been reported.

In November Borders & Southern raised 113m, enough to finance the drilling of three wells. It may yet bring in a partner and it has also hinted at "sharing with other operators in the region". This is likely to mean Falkland Oil & Gas. This is partly because Borders & Southern's licences are in the deep waters to the south, but also because Desire and Rockhopper have already secured their rig.

Falklands Oil & Gas (LSE: FOGL): Having brought in BHP Billiton as a partner, FOGL has an interest of only 49% in its licence areas. But these areas cover an expanse the size of 223 North Sea blocks more extensive than all the other licences put together. The joint venture plans to use the Ocean Guardian to drill one well at one of the shallower points of its acreage. But the licence areas are predominantly deep water. To drill here it needs to hire a dynamically positioned drillship or semi-submersible, which it hopes to do later this year.

Getting my bearings in Port Stanley


http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article203964.ece

balls or otherwise?

Actually a compass bearing (magnetic north) that close to the South Pole is probably quite tricky to get.

A bit of a bounce at the end....blue start tom

Lots of buys today anyway... only the nervous ones will run.

Too bad it is moving downwards, marky due to general market weakness and also to this top navy admiral mentioning about war in the Falklands.

More sells than buys today...guess people are nervous and scared when war is mentioned.
Well, where there is oil, there is usually war.

Monday, January 18th 2010

Britain rejects latest Argentine claim to Falklands sovereignty


The British government has firmly rejected the latest claim by Argentina to sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, Members of Parliament have been told, according to a report from BBC.

Junior Foreign office minister Chris Bryant made a statement to Parliament.
In a written statement, junior Foreign Office minister Chris Bryant said the UK had "no doubt" that the Falklands belonged to the UK.

Argentina passed a law in December claiming to own the islands and several other British overseas territories.

The Conservatives gave their "full support" to the British government's response.

Argentina and Britain went to war over the Falklands in 1982, and despite the military dictatorship defeat and surrender, Argentina insists with claims to the Falklands and other South Atlantic Islands.

Mr Bryant said the Foreign Office had delivered a "note verbale" to the Argentine charge d'affaires in London to outline UK rejection of the claim.

It insisted that the Falklands, along with South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands and the British Antarctic Territory, all remained firmly under UK sovereignty.

Shadow foreign minister David Lidington added that the Conservatives would "condemn attempts by any foreign governments to assert otherwise".

In March 2009, Gordon Brown rejected calls from Argentina for talks over the future sovereignty of the Falklands. PM Brown turned down the request for discussions at a meeting with Argentinas president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

http://en.mercopress.com/2010/01/20/oil-executives-check-preparations-for-rig-arrival-in-falklands


MercoPress, Stanley, 20/01/10

"Oil executives check preparations for rig arrival in Falklands.

DRILLING chemicals, pipe casing and logging equipment are just part of the mass of physical supplies being offloaded in Stanley in preparation for the arrival of the oil rig in Falkland Islands waters next month.

Desire Petroleum plc (Desire) Chairman Stephen Phipps told MercoPress the large cargo ship Honest Rays, currently berthed at the islands dock, FIPASS, is the second to have landed supplies for storage at their lay down area run by local firm Byron Marine Ltd.

A supply helicopter for the rig Ocean Guardian, has already been delivered to the islands and will be based at Cape Dolphin at the furthest northern point on East Falkland Islands.

Speaking of logistical support for the rig and drill programme, Mr Phipps said, although it has all been rather rushed the level of support here in the Falklands is fabulous, it really is excellent bearing in mind it has been set up in three months rather than the more normal 8 months.

Mr Phipps is visiting the islands along with Desire Chief Executive Ian Duncan and two colleagues from the partner company Rockhopper Exploration plc, Chief Executive Sam Moody, and Exploration Director Dave Bodecott.

Apart from inspecting the supply base to the East of the dock, which they describe as, very good, the group will have talks with the eight recently elected Legislative Assembly Members.
Desire Petroleum is a UK company listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), dedicated to exploring for oil and gas in the North Falkland Basin.

The company participated in the first round of drilling in the North Falkland Basin in 1998. Desire now operates 6 licences in the area and Rockhopper Exploration plc have farmed-in to two of the tranches."

The Following transcript from an Interview from with Stephen Phipps,of DES and also Sam Moody,of RKH, who are both currently down in the Falklands on a visit,has been sent to me just this afternoon.
Rep = Reporter.

I make appoplgy for any spelling errors in this,dictation was never a strong point of mine,however I have done my best to cover what was said.
PP.


Rep-
Oil company reps that are currently visiting the Falklands,say they are pleased with how preperations are progressing in advance of the arrival of the "Ocean Guardian" Oil rig,and said there was a number of reasons for their visit..

SP
We are here just to see how things are going,our 2 supply vessels have arrived,our supply depot is being built by Byron Marine,we came to see it all and see how things are going,obviously we have a new councill since we were last here,we've come to meet councillors,and update the Minerals dept as to where we are with our drilling campaign.

Rep
Yes, so how is all the logistical work going in anticipation of the rig arriving?

SP
Its going very well,it's been an enourmos task which has been done very well by every one here in the Falklands,the 2nd ship that came in was the the biggest ship that has come into fipass for 10 years,its going to take 7-8 days to unload,the firs ship was unloaded quickly,things are going well and its all down to the credit of the Falkland Islander's who are working so hard around the clock to do it.The work effort from the Falklands has been
fantastic,every one is working hard to get us here,and we are looking forward to finding oil.

Rep
Whats the latest with the rig,and where is that at the moment?

SP
Well I cant tell you exactly where it is,that would be..I'm not allowed to umm,but its on its way,lets put it that way,and will be here pretty much on schedule,early Feb.

Rep
Have there been any difficultys so far,I belive it did have to stop off at one point in the trip?

SP
Well I think it was a minor stop for a chain breaking or something,but things that are a normal part of dragging a rig down 8000 mile in 65 days,its just a normal part of that procedure.

Rep
I guess that security is also an issue,is that also something you have been discussing?

Sp
Yes we have been discussing it with the Rig,Diamond,but all rigs have their own security procedures,its nothing untoward about that,I mean people drill in Nigera,and all sorts of places that are difficult,I'm not suggesting that this is giong to be difficult,infact we dont forsee any problems, but we will have and do have an emergency responce plan,which is in the normal operating envoirment we would have.

Rep
There seems to be quite a lot of buzz around at the moment with this campaign,it must be quite an exciting time for Desire.?

SP
We are excited,we have been waiting 12 years to drill,we have done a lot of work in between time,a lot more work on our prospects, 3D, AVO work,
we were lucky to get a rig when the rig prices were coming down,we've not just ourselves,but other oil companys have raised a lot of money on the stock market,and were here,were excited,and looking forward to the next 6-8 months.SP.
End

The Reporter then spoke to Sam Moody of RKH.

SM
Well were planning to drill 2 wells during 2010,useing the same rig as Desire,one of those wells is in the ex-Shell block, its just a few Km from the last well Shell drilled during 98,and that well of course did recover oil,so were very excited about that one,and then were drilling another well called Earnest,which is much nearer to the Islands, about 100Km away from the Islands, in an area that has'nt been drilled before. Both Des and RKH are useing AGR to do the management of the wells,and they are doing a fantastic job down here, and were extreamaly excited about whatas about to happen. This is a defining year for the company,so in my position,clearly this is the culmination of 5 years work,so yes its extreamaly exciting.

Rep
Whats the best case scenario for this campaign for Rockhopper.?

SM
Well the best case scenario is that these 2 wells we drill would be oil discoveries,and that would be an event that would compleatly transform
the company,and of course you've got to remember as well that we are in 3 wells that DES will be drilling,so we've got 5 chances if you like to make it work.

Rep
Yes there must be good co-operation between yourselves and DES with this work?.

SM
Yes, its extreamaly important that we co-operate with each other,because were both operating remotly from where we are based,thats why we've both appointed AGR to manage the wells on our bahalf.

End of Interview.