http://www.sparkstrader.com/oilbarrel-falklands-oil-and-gas-fogl-farm-in-review/
Submitted by SparksTrader • about 2 hours ago Website: oilbarrel.com
FOGL Spuds Much-Anticipated Loligo Wildcat And Brings In Noble Energy For Future Drilling
You wait years for a farm-in partner and then two come along at once. That at least is the experience of shareholders in Falklands Oil & Gas, who have long been keen for the AIM-quoted explorer to land farm-in deals that would help set a benchmark for the company’s huge tracts of the Falklands offshore. Shares in the company were up 13 per cent in Monday morning trading at 84.75 pence on news that deepwater exploration powerhouse Noble Energy would be farming into its frontier acreage in the southern Atlantic.
This is a big confidence boost for shareholders. A previous farm-in partner, natural resources giant BHP Billiton, exited last year, a move that did little to reassure investors about the prospectivity of these remote waters. But 2012 has allayed fears that the international oil and gas industry didn’t share FOGL’s view that it is sitting on a world class play with a multi-billion barrel resource. In June, the company bagged Edison International, the Italian energy company now controlled by French utility giant EDF, which will earn a 25 per cent stake in FOGL’s Northern Area Licences by paying US$40 million in cash plus spending about US$50 million on two wildcats and well planning costs.
Now FOGL has landed NYSE-quoted Noble, which is something of a coup. Noble has made significant discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico, West Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean, where it broke new ground with the giant Tamar and Leviathan gas discoveries. Now Noble is adding the Falkland Islands to its portfolio.
The news came on the same day that FOGL announced the spud of its Loligo wildcat some 200 km east of the Falkland Islands. The well, which FOGL operates with a 75 per cent interest, will take some 60 days to drill and is testing an estimated 4.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent in five separate reservoirs. FOGL always said that if Loligo was successful it would then either drill another well into Loligo or the Nimrod prospect but that if Loligo didn’t deliver it would then drill a different play, the Scotia prospect. The company now says it is pushing to drill Scotia in Q4 this year, which suggests new farm-in partner Noble is keener on the Mid Cretaceous Scotia type play rather than the Tertiary-aged stratigraphic trap style prospect of Loligo or Nimrod.
This is certainly confirmed by the farm-in terms. Noble will farm-in for 35 per cent of the Northern Area Licences and will take over operatorship in early 2013. This will leave FOGL with 40 per cent, Noble with 35 per cent and Edison with 25 per cent. Confusingly, however, there are two excluded areas –the Loligo complex and the Nimrod-Garrodia complex – where Noble will not participate in certain stratigraphic horizons and FOGL will retain a 75 per cent interest with Edison holding 25 per cent. Noble will participate in the other horizons. Noble will also take on 35 per cent of the Southern Area Licences and assume operatorship of these by early 2014. This puts the equity split at FOGL with 52.5 per cent, Noble with 35 per cent and Edison with 12.5 per cent.
In return, Noble will pay US$25 million in back costs – to be paid in January 2013 – and pay 60 per cent of the costs of the Scotia well, which is set to drill in late 2012. It will also pay 45 per cent of a discretionary exploration well. Its total spend over the next three years will be between US$180 million and US$230 million.
This is good news, removing much of the financial risk for FOGL. After drilling both the Loligo and Scotia wells, it reckons it will still have US$200 million in cash, limiting the downside for investors and providing scope for additional 3D seismic work. FOGL is eying further exploration drilling in late 2014, of up to four exploration wells.
The farm-out also provides further industry validation of FOGL’s geological models. And while Edison brought on board a respected and deep-pocketed partner, Noble adds the exploration credentials that really count. Noble’s CEO Charles D. Davidson says his company has identified numerous oil leads on 2D data with an unrisked gross resource potential exceeding 6 billion barrels of oil. Such is the scale of FOGL’s acreage position – a whopping 40,000 sq km - that this deal will increase Noble’s net leasehold position by 40 per cent.
What’s more, the deal adds a further buffer against the political risks of operating in these disputed waters. Argentina continues its sabre-rattling, threatening legal action against oil companies working offshore the islands. Now Buenos Aires must contend with a mighty US corporate as well as the French, Italians and British. Spain, of course, after the expropriation of YPF from its oil giant Repsol, is already in strong opposition to the current regime in Buenos Aires. When you’re seeking support for a sovereignty claim, it isn’t helpful to have US and EU powers aligned against you and it’s another reason for investors to be glad of Noble’s involvement.
Analysts certainly welcomed the move. Ian McLelland, Head of Oil & Gas at Edison Investment Research, said this was a “transformation deal both for FOGL and the Falklands explorers in general”, confirming a longer term exploration commitment beyond 2012 and again confirming the resource potential of the basins. “The fact that this can increase $15bn market cap Noble’s net leasehold by over 40pc indicates just how important the Falklands can be on a global scale for the oil industry,” said McLelland.