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 PETROLEUM PLC ROCKHOPPER EXPLORATION PLC
COMMENCEMENT OF DRILLING INFORMATION NOTICE

Desire Petroleum plc has contracted the Diamond Drilling Offshore semi-submersible drilling rig OCEAN GUARDIAN to drill several prospects in the North Falkland Basin (NFB). The OCEAN GUARDIAN will also be utilised by Rockhopper Exploration plc to drill other prospects in the NFB. Drilling activity in the NFB will commence on or about 13 February 2010 and will continue for the next several months.

The OCEAN GUARDIAN (call sign V7FF7) is being towed onto location in the NFB by the AHTS MAERSK TRAVELLER (call sign OYGVZ). The OCEAN
GUARDIAN will be supported by two other vessels, the AHTS MAERSK PACER (call sign OWFJ5) and the PSV TOISA INVINCIBLE (call sign C6PW7).
Drilling activity will first commence within acreage held by Desire Petroleum plc. This acreage is bounded by the following coordinates:

49 20' S 59 24' W
49 20' S 58 54' W
49 40' S 58 54' W
49 40' S 59 24' W

Illustrative charts showing the wider exploration areas which are to be drilled during 2010, including images of the OCEAN GUARDIAN and its support vessels listed above have been made available to mariners, shipping companies and their agents, and all fishing companies.

The OCEAN GUARDIAN shall be given a wide berth at all times. A 500m exclusion zone around the OCEAN GUARDIAN will be rigorously enforced. The OCEAN GUARDIAN will broadcast suritmessages twice daily at 09:30 local time and 21:30 local time on HF radio 4066.1kHz. Fishing vessels in the vicinity of the notified drilling area should maintain a good listening watch on VHF radio Channel 16.

The planned movements of the OCEAN GUARDIAN as the drilling programme unfolds will be advised in regularly issued situation reports by the undersigned.
Lewis Clifton

Fisheries Liaison Officer, 31 January 2010, dlclifton@byronmarine.co.fk

http://agmetalminer.com/2010/02/05/britain-goes-prospecting-for-oil/


Britain Goes Prospecting for Oil
February 5th, 2010

Britain could be about to strike oil, again. Not in the North Sea this time but around the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. Desire Petroleum, Rockhopper Exploration, Falklands Oil & Gas (in partnership with BHP Billiton) and Borders & Southern have between them raised 170m (US$272m) to begin drilling later this month according to the Financial Times. Desire has leased the drill ship Ocean Guardian to build on work done in 1998 in which six wells were drilled in the North Falklands Basin and five of them yielded oil and gas, but at prevailing oil prices were not considered economically viable. Analysts say any discoveries now could be commercially viable at about $40 a barrel.

Needless to say Argentina is hopping mad about the news, Reuters reported that Argentina protested to Britains embassy in Buenos Aires this week over the plans to begin offshore oil exploration in the disputed Falkland Islands, which the two countries went to war over in 1982. Nearly 1000 people were killed in the Falklands war and Argentina still lays claim to the energy rich islands even though they have been under British control since 1833.

According to an article last year, drilling costs could be US$10m per hole so these small junior exploration companies are going to need big partners (like BHP) or deep pockets to fully explore the region. The prospects look positive though; testing a well drilled by Shell ten years earlier, British firm Rockhopper Exploration discovered a massive natural gas deposit one that could be as big as 7.9 trillion cubic feet. But the problem is with no nearby market and the cost of laying a pipeline or building an LNG plant being immense the natural gas is of limited immediate value.

There are two areas being explored at the moment the North and South Basins. Rockhopper made its gas discovery in the North, where the water is shallow at 100m-600m (300-2000ft) and the drilling conditions relatively benign. The South Basin, where fellow explorers Falkland Oil & Gas and Borders & Southern are active, is another matter. The water is up to 1,200m (4000ft) deep and the drilling conditions far trickier according to a report in Money Week. With Britains experience in the North Sea such depths would not be a major hindrance to developing any finds but they do raise the cost of exploration and development even before overcoming the logistical challenge of operating in the South Atlantic so far from major support services. Suppliers to the offshore oil industry will be watching developments closely; development would bring rich rewards for those with the expertise to meet the challenge

DES finishing today at 106.5p with more sells than buys.
I guess people are getting cautious with the dispute between Argentina and UK still not resolved and oil price down to $70 and Dow Jones cracking below 10000 level now.

i suspect the concern was with Dow more than anything else, forcing some sales and others just locking in profits .....as it happens Dow finished +10 having been -170 at one point

Argentina warns oil firms of Falklands legal action
Published: Feb. 5, 2010 at 5:47 PM
BUENOS AIRES, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Argentina has warned oil companies operating in the Falklands Islands they will face legal action unless they stop prospecting in sovereign Argentine territory.

The Argentine threat of legal action against the oil companies was anticipated in both London and Stanley, seat of the British overseas territory's government in the Falklands, and signaled further heightening of tension between Britain, the Falklands and Argentina.

Argentina has toughened its stance on the Falklands since the oil-prospecting agreements between the Falklands and British-based oil companies began taking shape last year.

Argentina and Britain went to war over the Falklands after an Argentine invasion of the islands. Britain beat back the assault and retained control, but Argentina has never relinquished its claim on the islands and has repeated its sovereignty claims amid energetic U.K.-led prospecting for hydrocarbons.

The Falklands dispute has coincided with a political crisis in Argentina over a bitter row between President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and the Central Bank and a related scandal over her husband's alleged use of insider information for a $2 million deal. Nestor Kirchner, the president's spouse and former president and ruling party leader, has denied wrongdoing.

The developing tense standoff between Britain and Argentina has fed into a fraught domestic situation over the Central Bank crisis, which led to the sacking of its governor, Martin Redrado, and his replacement by Mercedes Marco del Pont.

Analysts said the evolving confrontation over the islands had all the makings of a crisis that, if allowed to escalate, could help strengthen the domestic position of Fernandez.

Britain has been beefing up security on the islands and has been training military personnel on its bases on the territory, ostensibly for eventual redeployment in Afghanistan or Iraq.

The latest Argentine statements on the hydrocarbons exploration called on Britain to consider carefully the consequences of the full-scale oil exploration operations. Argentine Foreign Ministry sources quoted in the local media said the government was prepared to seek recourse to the highest tribunals -- a reference to the International Court of Justice at The Hague.

The sources told the media, "It's not accidental that the oil companies involved are British, that is to say, the only ones that can really believe the chimera that the U.K. is peddling about the alleged legality of these commercial operations," MercoPress reported.

Britain reiterated this week it "has no doubt over sovereignty over the Falkland Islands and surrounding maritime areas." The British Foreign Office says the Falklands government is entitled to develop a hydrocarbons industry within its waters and the U.K. supports the development.

Analysts said the situation could come to a head as a leased exploratory oil rig, Ocean Guardian, is scheduled to enter Falkland waters by Feb. 14. The rig was leased by Desire Petroleum but is likely to be shared with other prospecting companies.

Several more oil companies are likely to join the "oil rush" in the Falklands after the government received new applications for seismic and geophysical surveys.

This is getting more confrontational by the day.

thats a 15 letter word......go steady h98, your competing with cynic now..
..
~

it's like the paper bag threatening the powder puff

Sorry, I will use shorter words next time.


Argentina warns UK about Falkland Islands oil
Sat, 06 Feb 2010


Argentina and the United Kingdom are about to lock horns over UK companies' oil and gas explorations plans around the Falkland Islands, or Islas Malvinas.

Buenos Aires has reiterated its rejection of oil and gas exploration programs by Britain around the south Atlantic islands and warned of the 'consequences' of such an action.

"Argentina again warns the UK about the illegality and consequences of this new unilateral action, extensive to all private actors involved, that they will be liable of future legal demands in the maximum tribunals, for the potential exploration and exploitation of Argentine resources," the South Atlantic news agency, MercoPress, quoted unnamed sources with the country's ministry of foreign affairs as saying on Friday.

Argentina's objection to the scheme comes after the UK-sponsored Falklands' government announced 'imminent' drilling around the islands by British energy contractors.

"The Falkland Islands Government is encouraged by the investment being made to establish whether there are commercial quantities of hydrocarbons in the Falklands. However, any potential revenues from exploitation will not feature in the Islands' economic planning unless and until commercially viable reserves are discovered," the announcement revealed.

Argentine authorities reacted strongly to the declaration, with Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana saying that oil exploration in 'Argentine waters' poses a direct threat to the interests of his country.

Taiana has presented a formal complaint to the British Embassy in Buenos Aires.

In his New Year address to the residents of the islands, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, "The British Government will continue to support the development of your hydrocarbons sector, the British Government will continue to work with you on this agenda."

He also said that there are "no doubts about United Kingdom's sovereignty over the Falkland Islands."

Britain seized the Malvinas Islands from Argentina in 1833, which triggered a 73-day war in 1982 during which nearly 650 Argentines and 260 Britons were killed.

Argentina disputes UK's control of the islands and views them as part of its own territory.

so hyleo, do you actually think argentina will dust down its weaponry and send in the gunboats? ..... well i sure i don't

I am not saying the Argentinians will definitely attack but there is always a possibility. They have done it once before, so why would they not as there is a potential of oil discovery now.
This conflict will escalate within the next few weeks.

now go and take a cold shower and then read the long article in Sunday Times

The article is not all positive - it says commercial oil may not be found and if found, Argentine may cause trouble in the region.

This time next week the rig will be in the Falklands,12 years i have waited to be proved right or wrong if oil will be found.........i have a six figure in shares saying i will be right!!!!!!!The last shell hole to be drilled was capped it was free flowing.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article7017865.ece

Oil hunters invade the Falklands
Rising prices are tempting explorers back to the waters of the south Atlantic

it is always true in any oil exploration that oil may or may not be found ..... however, for a change the odds seem quite well stacked in favour of at least the northern block being successful

i am sure argentina will make lots and lots of noise if/when oil is indeed found, but she has neither the clout nor the will to go to war - it would be a damn-fool decision if she did in any case ..... that does not mean that argentina will not be given some slice of the action in some way

yes agree with you cynic, but that could be good for des in order to distribute it. Anyway, next few weeks will see sp shoot up whatever the speculation as that drill bit gets closer.

They should be drilling 16th or 17th of Feb and we should see the price start to rise from now on.

cynic, reckon you could be put in the ramping catagory......not like you..
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as you well know, i'll often put in my two-pennyworth when i hold a differing view from that expressed ..... if i felt that bullish about DES, i prob wouldn't haven't top-sliced

Personally, I doubt Argentina have the will or the military muscle to mount another Malvinas offensive, probably just as well, as the UK military are in no position to rebuff a concerted effort, nor ever will be again!