This company seems to have been searching for a long time - any ideas out there?

Faroe Petroleum, the independent oil and gas company focusing principally on exploration, appraisal and production opportunities in the Atlantic margin, the North Sea and Norway, is pleased to announce the spudding of the Statoil-operated Snilehorn exploration well 6407/8-6 (Faroe 7.5%).

The Snilehorn prospect is located four kilometres from the Hyme producing oil field (Faroe 7.5%) in the Norwegian Sea. Hyme produces into the Njord field facilities (Faroe also 7.5%).

The well and a planned side-track will target oil and gas in the Jurassic Ile, Tilje and Åre Formations (analogous to the Hyme reservoir) and, if successful, the plan is to fast-track a development along similar lines to the Hyme development. The water depth is 282 metres and the well is planned to be drilled to a total depth of approximately 3,205 metres. The drilling operations are being undertaken by Statoil (50%) utilising the Songa Trym rig.

Graham Stewart, Chief Executive, Faroe Petroleum commented:

"We are pleased to announce the spudding of the Snilehorn exploration well, the first of our six well programme which, if successful, offers an opportunity to add new production at a low cost through a fast-track tie-back to the nearby Hyme field in which Faroe also participates with 7.5%.

"We now look forward to one of our most exciting periods ahead, with a long programme of fully-funded high impact exploration and appraisal wells planned, in which we have material equity stakes. The programme commences with the Snilehorn welland has the potential to generate considerable shareholder value."

StockMarketWire.com

Faroe Petroleum's revenues slipped to £89.0m in the six months to the end of June - down from £90.6m last time.

Profit after tax rose to £12.2m (1H 2012: £3.7m) - after exploration write-offs of £13.6m (1H 2012: £51.3m) but EBITDAX at £56.9m was down from £62.8m.

Chief executive Graham Stewart said: "2013 is proving to be an extremely active year for Faroe. We have completed three exploration wells, and have recently commenced drilling on the first of six wells to be drilled over the coming period - all located close to existing producing fields and infrastructure.

"The year started on a high with a gas condensate discovery at Rodriguez in good quality reservoir and the follow-up Solberg appraisal well is already planned for January 2014.

"We are excited about the two back-to-back Butch wells (Faroe 15%) which will explore the south west and east sides of the large salt structure where we made the significant Butch main oil discovery in 2011, together with our operated Novus well on the Halten Terrace in Norway (Faroe 30%). Our focus on frontier exploration continues and we have further strengthened our strategic position in the Barents Sea with a licence award in the 22nd Norwegian round, in strong competition with many other companies.

"The licence, operated by Eni as one of the most successful explorers in the Barents Sea, has a firm well commitment on the Dazzler prospect, likely to be drilled in 2015, enhancing our high impact Norwegian drilling programme."

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The start-up of the Njord and Hyme fields has been delayed until the second quarter of next year, Faroe Petroleum has been informed by operator Statoil.

Faroe said Statoil announced the delay - which is to allow additional time to plan and undertake remedial works following a structural review - at a management committee meeting this morning (26 September).

Faroe says further information will be provided following the next management committee meeting, which is currently expected next week.

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Westhouse Securities has upgraded its recommendation on Faroe Petroleum (LON:FPM) to "buy" from "neutral" believing the current share price offers a good entry point, especially when the company is about to embark on a busy and fully-funded exploration drilling programme. The broker specifically highlights the drilling in the Butch area and the Novus prospect as material share price catalysts. Analysts have therefore increased their price target to 175 pence per share from 162 pence. The broker said: Investing in exploration requires an understanding of its binary nature and its ability to create and erode value relatively quickly. "As an explorer, we believe Faroe covers all the bases: it is fully funded, has a P&D base to limit downside and the company's upcoming drilling programme is focused on near-field exploration with relatively easy follow-on development options (and hence potential monetisation options).

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Analysts at finnCap have downgraded their recommendation on Faroe Petroleum (LON:FPM) to "hold" from "buy" in their monthly E&P research note, today, citing the limited implied upside to their new target price as the rationale behind their change of stance. The broker said: 'The Faroe share price has recovered much of the lost ground triggered by disappointing news flow in September and now stands just 8% below our target price. As a result, we downgrade our recommendation to Hold and believe positive drilling results must be delivered for the share price to move significantly higher from these levels. Analysts have increased their price target by 3.7 per cent to 140 pence per share (previously 135 pence).'

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Faroe Petroleum has spudded the Novus (PL645) well no. 6507/10-2S offshore Norway. The Novus prospect is located some nine kilometres to the south of the Statoil-operated, producing Heidrun oil field in the prolific Halten Terrace hydrocarbon province of the Norwegian Sea.

This is an area in which Faroe has built a strong position over several years, and has had considerable exploration success, including the significant Maria, Fogelberg and Rodriguez discoveries.

Chief executive Graham Stewart said: "We are pleased to announce the spudding of the Faroe-operated Novus exploration well on the prolific Norwegian Sea Halten Terrace, an area where we have a large strategic position and have had considerable success. "This is the second well in our six well exploration programme; one of our most exciting to date which was recently kicked off with the Snilehorn well, where we announced a significant oil discovery this morning. With material equity stakes across the prolific North Sea, Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea in Norway, we have the real potential to generate considerable shareholder value

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Faroe Petroleum has confirmed an oil discovery in well 6407/8-6 and sidetrack 6407/8-6A on the Snilehorn prospect in the Norwegian Sea (Faroe 7.5%).

The well, which spudded on 18 September, was targeting oil and gas in the Jurassic Ile, Tilje and �&re formations (analogous to the Hyme oil field reservoirs). The main bore (6407/8-6) encountered oil columns of approximately 40 metres thickness in the Ile formation, 130 metres in the Tilje formation and in addition approximately 21 metres in the Triassic Grey-Beds formation.

Oil-down-to situations were encountered in all three formations in the main bore.

The sidetrack (6407/8-6A) encountered oil columns of approximately 6 metres thickness in the Melke formation, 75 metres in the Ile formation and 43 metres in the Tilje formation.

In the sidetrack, oil-down-to situations were encountered in the Melke and Ile formations. The oil-bearing Triassic interval found in the main bore was not encountered in the sidetrack. Pressure data indicates communication between the main bore and the sidetrack and the reservoir properties are as expected.

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Faroe Petroleum has acquired the remaining 50% interest in the Lowlander oil discovery in the UK Central North Sea and now owns the entire 100% interest in the undeveloped oil field.

The company has entered into an agreement with North Sea Ventures Limited to acquire its 50% interest in UK Licence P.324, block 14/20c containing the Lowlander oil discovery. This acquisition follows completion of Faroe's purchase of the initial 50% interest in the Lowlander discovery, acquired from Talisman Sinopec in February 2013.

Njord Update
Faroe Petroleum provides an update on the status of the Njord production facility (Faroe 7.5%).

As previously announced on 26 September 2013, the Njord operator Statoil has been carrying out a detailed analysis of the platform's structural integrity. The preliminary results from this numerical analysis led to the temporary shut down of both production and drilling to allow for the deck structure to be reinforced. The work on this project has commenced and the operator's expectation is that this will be completed in Q2 2014, and the Njord facility will then be brought back on production.

Significant oil and gas resources remain in the Njord field and surrounding catchment area with potential for over 20 years of remaining production. These resources include the developed volumes which can be produced from the existing wells on Njord and Hyme, further infill drilling in the Njord field, development of the North West Flank gas and condensate accumulations and development of the newly announced Snilehorn oil discovery. There is also significant additional prospectivity that may be matured towards exploration drilling in the coming years along with undeveloped third party discoveries in the catchment area.

On this basis, the Njord partnership is evaluating a number of scenarios for the long term further development of Njord and the accumulations in the surrounding area, which range from:

- continuing production with the Njord A facility following the current deck reinforcement project and identifying alternative means of continuing development drilling on Njord

- bringing the Njord A facility to shore at an optimal time for further strengthening of the structure or replacing the hull

- potentially building a new Njord A platform or FPSO

The objective of this ongoing scenario evaluation work is to identify a robust plan for the long term development of the hydrocarbon resources in the Njord area in order to create maximum value and reserves exploitation. This scenario evaluation work is expected to reach its conclusion towards the end of 2014.

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Faroe Petroleum has confirmed the spudding of the Centrica-operated Butch East exploration well 8/10-5S, the first of two back-to back-wells in licence PL405/P.

Butch East, which is adjacent to Faroe's 2011 Butch discovery, is situated in approximately 65 metres water depth in the Norwegian North Sea, close to significant existing infrastructure with the giant Ula field approximately seven kilometres to the north-west, Tambar approximately 10 kilometres to the south-west and Gyda approximately 20 kilometres to the south.

The Centrica operated Butch Main discovery (Faroe 15%) was made in late 2011 and contains a significant presence of light crude oil in the Upper Jurassic reservoir of the Ula formation. Since the main Butch discovery was made, licence operator Centrica Energy Norway has acquired new high quality seismic data, which has been applied in the planning of two further exploration wells on the untested eastern and south⬐western sides of the large central Butch salt structure.

The operator is currently working on a development plan for the Butch Main discovery, in parallel with drilling the Butch East and Butch South West wells. The Butch licence drilling operations are operated by Centrica (40%) using the Maersk Giant jack-up drilling rig, together with the other joint venture partners Suncor Norge AS 30% and Tullow Oil Norge AS 15%. Faroe Petroleum chief executive Graham Stewart said: "We are pleased to announce the spudding of the Butch East exploration well, which is the first of two back-to-back wells following on from the 2011 discovery on the Butch licence. If successful, Butch East offers the potential to substantially add to the value of the Butch field.

"Butch East is the third well to spud in our near-term six well exploration programme. This exciting exploration campaign commenced with the significant Snilehorn discovery announced last month, and continues with the Novus well, currently drilling, close to the producing Heidrun oil field. Following these wells, we also look forward to the drilling of the Solberg and Pil prospects, both in the Norwegian Sea.

"With material equity stakes held in a portfolio of excellent quality licences across the prolific North Sea, Norwegian Sea and Norwegian Barents Sea, Faroe Petroleum has the real potential to generate considerable shareholder value through our sustained programme of exploration and appraisal drilling."

Pil exploration well commences in the Norwegian Sea
Faroe Petroleum is pleased to announce the spudding of the VNG-operated Pil exploration well 6406/12-3S (Faroe 25%).

The Pil prospect (Licence PL 586) is located within tie-back distance (33 kilometres) to the Njord platform in which the Company holds a 7.5% interest. The prospect is a combined structural and stratigraphic closure and the primary target is at the shallower upper Jurassic Rogn formation sandstone which has proved to be an effective reservoir in the producing Draugen field, located 60 kilometres to the north east.

The Pil licence drilling operations are operated by VNG Norge AS (30%) using the Transocean Arctic drilling rig with partners Spike Exploration Holdings AS (30%) and Rocksource Exploration Norway AS (15%).

Nice rising trend ...at long last....going long....I don't agree with the bears on oil for this year...in fact the opposite with the world economy recovering...and this year should be a recovery year for minnow oil companies and mid-range ones as well..(FPM are mid range)....well that's my view (for what it's worth)...

rf reports suggest US will become a net exporter of oil and gas shortly would this not have a negative impact on energy prices?

Can you really see energy prices dropping across the globe ?.....I can't......check out your electricity and gas bills.....Far east and middle east energy consumption is rocketing and their demand (across perhaps fifty countries) plus the BRIC ones (Brazil, Russia, India,China) is going to put pressure on supplies....energy prices are going to go up, not down !...

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Faroe Petroleum has been awarded 10 new prospective exploration licences, including two operatorships, under the 2013 Norwegian Awards in Pre-defined Areas licensing round.

These 10 licences equate to the largest number awarded in this APA round, equal with Centrica and Statoil.

Chief executive Graham Stewart said: "We are delighted with these licence awards, which add considerable new potential to our forward drilling programme.

"Faroe has again been very successful in its licence application strategy, and this award is the largest to date for the company, and indeed in the entire APA round, alongside Statoil and Centrica. This demonstrates the strength of our reputation in Norway and further positions us as having one of the largest licence portfolios on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

"Faroe Petroleum has built a strong and sustainable exploration company, with Norway at centre stage. Our significant Norwegian portfolio has a diversified mix of both near-field and frontier opportunities, from which we can high-grade the best prospects for drilling.

"The combined advantages of Norway's progressive and highly successful fiscal incentivisation for exploration and our own cash generating production ensure we can continue to make Norway a key part of our value creating business strategy."

All well and good - they just need to start being successful again with the drill-bit.

StockMarketWire.com
Faroe Petroleum has confirmed a small discovery of oil in the Novus prospect the Norwegian Sea.

Faroe says the preliminary volumetric gross estimate of the size of the discovery at the 6507/10-2S exploration well is 6-15 million barrels of oil equivalent recoverable, net to Faroe 1.8-4.5 mmboe.

Faroe adds: "Due to the presence of a large gas cap in the reservoir, Novus is unlikely to be of commercial size on its own."

But it adds: "Nearby de-risked prospects and leads offer potential for a future commercial combination."

The well encountered a 12 metre net gas column and a 12.5 metre net oil column in a high quality, thicker than expected Garn formation.

The well confirmed the play model, with excellent quality reservoirs in the area, and that 3D seismic anomalies are diagnostic as a direct hydrocarbon indicator in these types of reservoirs.

The well result will be used to refine the geological model and de-risk additional prospects and leads on the licence for potential future drilling.

Faroe said the well cost was significantly mitigated through the August farm down from 50% to 30%, on a cost carried basis, together with the Norwegian tax rebate.

Chief executive Graham Stewart said: "We are pleased to announce a small discovery of oil in the Novus prospect and the de-risking of the identified structures and prospects which remain in the licence, through the successfully calibrated seismic data. The well confirms the robustness of our geophysical model and the team's ability, and there is real potential for Novus to have future commercial value in combination with a discovery from one of the identified and de-risked prospects and leads in the immediate vicinity. "Elsewhere in Norway, the exploration campaign continues, following the significant Snilehorn discovery announced in November 2013, with the current drilling of the Butch East well (Faroe 15%), located close to the producing Ula, Tambar and Gyda oil fields. Also drilling currently is the Pil exploration well which is in close proximity to the Njord hub facilities. We look forward to the commencement of drilling on the Solberg (Faroe 20%) and Butch South West (Faroe 15%) prospects, both in Norway in the near future."

StockMarketWire.com
Faroe Petroleum has confirmed the spudding of the Wintershall-operated Solberg appraisal well 6407/1-7 the Norwegian Sea.

Faroe has a 20% interest in the well. The Solberg prospect is located in the APA 2007 license PL475 on the Halten Terrace in the Norwegian Sea four kilometres north-east of the Tyrihans field and eight kilometres south-east of Faroe's significant Maria discovery (2010).

The well will assess the lateral extent and size of the Lower Cretaceous Rodriguez discovery announced by Faroe in January 2013, where moveable hydrocarbons were discovered in sandstone layers in the Lange formation.

Well ...my market picks are not going according to plan...apart from one or two....not happy about this.....dozens of prospects and if you had asked me three years ago where the sp would have been today : I would have guessed between 300p to 400p...(:(((...

Still drilling and lots of other wells to drill this year rf. Keep the faith!