http://www.falklands-oil.com/

http://www.rockhopperexploration.co.uk

http://www.argosresources.com/




Rockhopper was established in 2004 with a strategy to invest in and undertake an offshore oil exploration programme in the North Falkland Basin. It was floated on AIM in August 2005. Rockhopper was the first company to make a commercial oil discovery in the Falklands. Today Rockhopper is the largest acreage holder in the North Falkland Basin, with interests in the Greater Mediterranean region.

Back to RKH.......should get an RNS tomorrow of spud....the boys are doing a great job at moment when u think about it, they did it in 14 days on last drill so any RNS saying 30 days maybe a lot shorter the way the lads are cracking on....also saving money.

Seriously what news is the market waiting for - I can't believe the price is low less than half the high and now we know so much more!!! Can anyone help? I know the markets have been in a terrible state the last few months but still can understand the current price...

TT
Hydrogen cars will be available at " normal" prices by 2015, and are expected to be available by the millions by 2020,

things move quickly these days look back to year 2000 and note the advances.

Falkland Islands: The New North Sea?
By: Evaluate Energy | Sep 20, 2011 | Stocks: BP, CVX,
http://www.istockanalyst.com/finance/story/5429222/falkland-islands-the-new-north-sea


In a remote corner of the South Atlantic, nearly 8000 miles from the UK, lies the self-governing British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands. Whilst for many people the islands are associated with a barren inhospitable landscape with a few sheep and even fewer people, a fledgling oil industry may be starting to take shape.

This week saw the announcement by Rockhopper Exploration, one of five British oil companies with operations in the Falklands, of continuing success in its exploration and appraisal programme of the Sea Lion discovery. This was the first confirmed oil discovery of the region, and the company now estimates the field to hold 325mmbbls of recoverable oil based on its mid estimate. Could it be that this remote area is starting to realise its much debated potential, estimated by the British Geological Society to hold billions of barrels of oil.

Background to Current Campaign

The prospect of the Falkland Islands developing into a major oil producing region has captured the imagination of geologists and investors alike for decades. For many, the area has significant potential as a new North Sea', bringing opportunities for oil and services companies for years to come. The exploration area surrounding the Falklands to which the UK has a territorial claim is some fifty percent larger than the UK's portion of the North Sea. In fact, despite being thousands of miles apart there are many similarities between the two. Environmental conditions and water depth are comparable to those west of the Shetland Islands, whilst in terms of geology the basins of the Falkland Islands possess structures similar to those found in the North Sea. The exploration area itself is separated into the geologically distinct North Basin, where the Sea Lion discovery was made, and the South Basin where fellow explorers Falkland Oil & Gas and Borders and Southern Petroleum intend to embark on the own campaign from the end of 2011 having secured an additional rig.



Despite the recent success, there are still those who doubt the Falkland Islands will ever see large scale oil production. One reason for this is the largely unsuccessful drilling campaign carried out by Majors including Shell, Hess and Lasmo in 1998. Six wells were drilled, with only one returning live oil to the surface in small amounts. Faced with high exploration costs, and a depressed oil price of approximately $10 a barrel, it was difficult to make an economic case for continued activity in the area, at which point the companies pulled out. Over the next decade a new round of licenses were handed out to several small British companies, each with only a handful of full-time employees. After a long period of little activity, the Falklands Oil dream sprung back to life with the contracting of the Ocean Guardian rig by Desire Petroleum.

Following a much hyped resumption of drilling activities in February 2010, the first well Liz' produced disappointing results, and it seemed that the region was destined never to realise its potential. That is, until the results of Sea Lion were known.
Meanwhile, whilst drilling activity continues, the protests from Argentina rumble on in the background. Critics point out that the Falkland Islands are often used by the Argentine government to divert attention away from domestic failures. This was the case in 1982 when Galtieri, leader of the Military Junta at the time, launched an invasion of the islands in the face of failing domestic popularity and an economic crisis. This time around, after unilaterally tearing up an agreement on oil sharing revenues in 2007, the Argentine government has once again begun to re-assert its claim to sovereignty. At a UN summit in Mexico in 2010, the country won unprecedented support from other Latin American states, drawing in vocal support from the leaders of Brazil, Venezuela, Uruguay and even Chile, a long-term British ally. Argentina, and more recently Brazil, have both imposed bans on allowing any Falklands' flagged vessels from docking at their ports in a deliberate attempt to impede drilling activities. One thing is for sure, and that is that the more oil that is discovered, the greater the protestations from Argentina will be. Britain, for its part, maintains that under UN charter the islanders have the right to self-determination and rejects the prospect of any potential change in its position, whilst maintaining 1,000 troops on the islands.

Looking to the Future

Political issues aside, considerable uncertainty remains over the future for oil exploration in the Falkland Islands. Given a discovery of this magnitude, it seems highly unlikely that the Sea Lion field exists in isolation. Therefore, as the exploration programme intensifies hopes of additional discoveries increase which can only serve to build the case for the region as an economically viable location for oil production. Returning to comparisons with the North Sea, initial excitement of explorers there in the 1960's quickly faded following a succession of dry wells and only minor gas discoveries. It was only the discovery of the giant Forties field, and of the Brent oilfield shortly after, which heralded the birth of one of the world's major oil producing regions and finally silenced the sceptics. Similarly in the Falklands, Sea Lion aside, the current round of drilling over the last 18 months has been fairly dismal. Nevertheless, a field the size of Sea Lion is too large to ignore, and will almost certainly be brought to production. In answering the question of how best to monetise the discovery, Rockhopper has unveiled ambitious plans of field development using a leased Floating Production Storage & Offloading vessel (FPSO). It estimates that first oil will be achieved by 2016, with maximum daily production reaching 120,000 bopd by 2018.

Figures of this size will surely make the world's biggest oil companies sit up and take notice given the potential profit to be made.
In addition, the intended use of an FPSO by Rockhopper negates the argument put forward by sceptics of a lack of local infrastructure, while the dual Argentine/Brazilian ban on Falklands shipping vessels will not impede drilling activities given the decision made at the beginning of the campaign to source materials from the UK. In terms of development costs, Rockhopper estimates that a not insignificant amount of $2billion will be required to the point of first oil production. Whilst the company has repeatedly signalled its intent to move into production alone, this would likely require a significant fundraising that may prove difficult given the recent tightening of credit availability. Existing investors would also be unreceptive to a large dilution of their holding through any equity issuance. Given that Rockhopper is in the enviable position of holding a 100% in the PL032 licence containing the discovery, a more likely option would be a farm-in of a portion of it's ownership to one of the Majors who could provide the dual benefit of a large cash position and the technical expertise in bringing the field to production.

Any commitment by a Major to drilling in the Falkland Islands would of course immediately alienate it from the Argentine administration. This would appear to prevent the involvement of companies such as Total, Chevron and Petrobras. Interestingly, Shell has recently begun divesting assets in Argentina, reaching agreement with Chile's Luksic family group to sell interests in service stations and the country's second-largest oil refinery. The company would fit the requirement for a partner nicely, and has a wealth of experience in field development using an FPSO. The question remains though, whether management would be prepared to swallow their pride and pay big money to regain an interest they gave up for nothing. BP is another which has been mentioned, with the obvious parallels to be drawn from the company's wealth of experience in the North Sea, in addition to its continued portfolio re-alignment following the fallout from the Deepwater Horizon incident last year. It is also possible that the Chinese National Oil firms could get involved, in order to satisfy the needs of a growing economy thirsty for oil. Whoever any potential partner turns out to be, it has to be said that Majors face a continuing quest to replenish reserves. If the Falklands prove to be anywhere near the size it has been claimed, then they may well decide it is worth the risk of transcending political disputes. Sometimes the opportunities are just too good to pass up.

Good post there Marky and a well balanced article for a change.

Well spotted Marky - as chav says "well balanced".

Personally I think we give too much credit to the South American politics. There is always a clamour of unity but they are generally self-serving when the pressure is on.

Shipping bans are a nuisance but there is an excellent airbridge in place and IF the Chiness get involved there is little reason for any logisitic support in S. America.

marky what happens next if RKH do not find a farm in partner or fail to raise the $2billion they say they need to start pumping oil?

they'll just buy a farm near port stanley!

Hal the word "IF".....am sure you can work that one out also what" IF"the do find partner or raise money?

How much oil is down there?
Will they find more oil ?

Lots of "IFS" but an happy holding as plenty of upside to come in the next 6 months.

http://investing.thisismoney.co.uk/broker-views/

22 Sep Rockhopper... RKH Goldman Sachs Buy OLD PRICE 728.00 NEW PRICE 854.00 Retains

NEW TARGET PRICE IS 8.54P

This share should be around 4 now but it isn't, I don't know about you lot but I've just stopped trading completely....apart from GKP...no profits anywhere....and I won't buy anything until my reds turn to blue...

Holding only 4 shares at present here RF only trading in one which is ARG buying in low 20s selling near 30s been doing well at that.

Don't despair rf. Lots of people in the same boat as you.
These high risk stocks are always going to be hard hit when the markets are weak and good news is being swallowed up with little effect on the sp. Might be worth having a stake in some of the blue chip Co's to benefit from divi's & less volatile price swings.
I was going to pump a little more cash into the market a few weeks ago, but very glad I didn't. Sit tight & don't panic sell is my advice.

I posted this at 0839 today on another site, since then the sp has continued to drop.

Theres blood on the streets.

With the mood of the markets, I think if Rockhopper had put out an RNS this morning, that whilst looking for oil they had found the 'lost city of Atlantis with all its treasures', the sp would still be diving downward.
Apart from the ever increasing bad financial news that appears to worsen with each new day, I feel the fear of a renewed Israel, Palestinian conflict with all its ramifications of spreading to a full middle east conflict, is also increasing market fears.
The current sp, has little to do with lack of confidence in RKH, but plenty to do with lack of confidence in world problems, both financial and political.
There are only two things stopping me from putting more cash into RKH.

1 All my money is fully committed, in investments (mainly in RKH).

2 I expect the sp to drop even further , due to as said, lack of confidence in the market, not RKH, so if I had money to invest further, I would watch and wait.

Fear as they say, is self feeding and in the present climate, that feeding is becoming a frenzy.

Total investing, no matter how bad things get will never fully cease and people will always be looking for somewhere to put their money.

When (small if) the oil figures are proven, I feel Rockhopper will be looked at as one of the few investments that will look to show god returns.
After all oil is always a commodity in both peaceful and none peaceful times.

Footsie plummets as bid talk fails to raise interest
Toby Green
22 Sep 2011

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/markets/article-23989851-footsie-plummets-as-bid-talk-fails-to-raise-interest.do

As traders were hit by a bloodbath on the market, even the prospect of takeover activity among the small-cap energy groups failed to prompt risers.

Rockhopper, the only explorer to have found black gold in the Falkland Islands, dropped 6.75p to 202.25p, despite City voices saying the AIM-listed company looked well set to attract bid interest.

Claiming the gulf between the performance of the sector and the price of oil had "become extreme", scribblers from Goldman Sachs said that as a result the industry giants were likely to be tempted to make a play for some of the smaller names.

They were particularly positive on groups which could attract the attention of national oil companies (NOCs), noting that historically they have made acquisitions "at significantly higher prices".

The analysts picked out Rockhopper as one of the most attractive to NOCs, thanks in part to the absence of a blocking shareholder and its large assets.

Among the other names they highlighted was Bowleven, although the African-focused explorer was also weaker, down 3.25p to 105.25p.

Ocean Guardian is in position.

KEEP an EYE

RKH 186.75p

Had a good marked down lately and also today, has come to the point of retracement being done @ 185p, with 61.8%, High of 264.75p low 135.50p

.

FT-Goldman Sachs,Takeover/Buy List
September 22, 2011 8:14 pm

Small caps: oil explorers ripe for predators
By Steve Lodge and Bryce Elder

Oil explorers were in focus on Thursday after Goldman Sachs argued that the sector was trading at levels that were likely to attract predators.

The dislocation between the long-dated crude price and E&P [exploration and production] equities has become extreme and is now at levels comparable with early 2009, Goldman told clients. We believe this dislocation represents an opportunity for well funded larger players that are struggling to grow to make acquisitions and that this activity could re-rate the E&P sector.

Names on Goldmans list of potential targets included Falklands explorer Rockhopper Exploration , down 6.8 per cent to 194.9p, Chinas Green Dragon Gas , off 5.9 per cent to 7.9p, and Albania-focused Bankers Petroleum , which fell 8.8 per cent to 260p.

Goldman also argued that valuations had been depressed by market concerns over explorers access to funding.
Although we recognise that many companies will require additional funding to develop assets or extend exploration programmes, we believe that, in general, the sector is funded for significant catalysts in the short term, it said.
Goldman also added Gulf Keystone Petroleum and Tower Resources to its buy list as part of the review, while adding Desire Petroleum and Hardy Oil & Gas to its sell list. But Gulf Keysone was off 5 per cent to 151p, Tower lost 1.7 per cent to 4p, Desire retreated 5.3 per cent to 18p and Hardy was 1.7 per cent weaker at 198.4p in a generally torrid session for natural resource companies.

Small caps: oil explorers ripe for predators

another push and at yesterday's closing price now 194p