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.

as has been often said, drilling for oil is an inexact and high risk science .... in fact, this first hole was not exactly a duster and just may have much more useful info attaching than is apparent to us laymen .... for sure, the market accepted it with relative equanimity

60p this am.

Harrycat, RKH have done CSEM over Ernest.

I would say Ernest is their best one, and thats not first as Sea Lion is.

They will now be refining the drill based on the data shares from Desire from LIZ and hopefully it going to be another hydrocarbon hit here.

Your post #552 says that this is 'one of the best'.
I still think that success on one of the first two drills is critical for investor support.

http://www.pennenergy.com/index/petroleum/exploration-and-production/display/2923430149/articles/oil-gas-journal/exploration-development-2/discoveries/2010/04/desire-has_two-zone.html

Desire has two-zone gas find north of Falklands


By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Apr. 6 -- Desire Petroleum PLC is plugging its Liz 14/19-1 well in the North Falkland basin as a natural gas discovery in two zones.

Early log analysis indicates the well cut 17 m of net hydrocarbon pay at 2,961-3,031 m in an overpressured, mainly sandstone, reservoir that appears to contain wet gas. A hydrocarbon sample and formation pressures were recovered. No water leg is indicated, and much work is needed to determine reservoir quality, trapping mechanism, and hydrocarbon potential.

The well also recovered dry gas below 3,400 m from a poor-quality reservoir in a pressure regime different from the shallower zone. The rock type and reservoir potential are uncertain. Total depth is 3,667 m.

Desire said, The Liz fan was encountered between 2,540 and 2,568 m. Good oil shows were recorded while drilling but logging and sampling confirmed that this reservoir interval was tight. It is believed the Beth fan was also penetrated between 2,654 and 2,672 m also with oil shows in tight reservoir. In both fans, work will now try to determine whether better quality reservoir may be developed updip.

The company also noted weak oil shows in conglomeratic zones at 2,706-2,932 m.

The well didn't reach the deepest play type in the prerift, and it wasn't suspended for later tests because it wasn't designed to test overpressured gas.

Liz was the first well in a multiwell campaign to explore the North Falkland basin. Rockhopper Exploration will now drill two wells in the North Falkland basin and BHP one in the East Falkland basin before the rig returns to Desire for further drilling later in the year.

Desire's Chairman Stephen Phipps said: "This well has proved complex and highly encouraging. Hydrocarbons have been found in two separate intervals, the geological model for the basin has been confirmed and at least two petroleum systems have been drilled, with hydrocarbon shows recorded over a wide interval. More sandstone was encountered than expected but typically of poor quality. However new reservoir targets have been identified and the challenge will be to predict where these may occur in better quality.

This well has provided some promising results, gas has been discovered at two levels and the prospectivity of the basin has been greatly enhanced. We now intend to carry out technical work to assess and analyze the information that we have obtained from this well and we are very much looking forward to resuming the drilling campaign later in the year.


Source:Oil & Gas Journal

Sea Lion must be due to spud shortly as this is supposedly not a deep well results should be known fairly quickly.

There should be news of a update v soon,good to see you have your eye on the ball Halifax....a few more days

the next one must be the big one!

Rockhopper Exp plc
Sea Lion 14/10-B Exploration
RNS Number : 2962K16 April 2010

Sea Lion 14/10-B Exploration Well Spud

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, is pleased to announce that the Sea Lion 14/10-B Exploration well was spudded at 0050hrs BST on 16 April 2010.

The Sea Lion prospect is located on Licence PL032 which is 100% owned and operated by Rockhopper.

The well is being drilled to an estimated target depth of circa 2,700 metres. Drilling operations are expected to take approximately 34 days and a further announcement will be made once drilling is completed.

Sea Lion is being drilled using the second rig slot in the overall drilling programme. The Company currently intends to drill its Ernest prospect (100% Rockhopper) using the fourth slot.

-Ends-

Enquiries:

Rockhopper Exploration plc
Sam Moody - Managing Director
Tel. +44 (0)20 7920 2340 (via M: Communications)

M: Communications
Patrick d'Ancona or Ben Simons
Tel. +44 (0)20 7920 2340

let's hope they don't piss on their chips then

A pretty dismal response from the sp, compared to the euphoria which accompanied the DES spudding!

now i wonder why!

I think it is mainly due to the mention of 34 days, as there have been several posters on other sites stating about 2 to 3 weeks.

Its all about fear.

Fear and greed.

Last time was greed. This time is fear.

Last time was overvalued, this time its cheap at the present price.

Thats how markets work, fear and greed :)

You hit oil or gas in commercial amounts ; the stock doubles, you don't, it halves !.

Not really, at this stage if you hit commercial oil it will quadruple and more in time, if it does not it will halve.

The percentage can vary...there are so many wells to be drilled out there that somebody must hit something sooner or later...

sp is very much following the same pattern as DES's, with sales order book much heavier than buys ..... i accept that today may have brought about some forced selling, but ......

From todays DES results :

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201004200700094297K

".....However, notwithstanding the potential positives we see from our own geophysical work and from Senergy (GB) Ltd's independent report in to our prospects, only by drilling wells will we truly be able to unlock the potential of the North Falkland Basin. Our first well, the Liz 14/19-1well was spudded on 22nd February 2010 with a target depth of 3,500 metres. After drilling to a depth of 3,667 metres the well was plugged and abandoned as a gas discovery, with 17 metres of net hydrocarbon pay between 2961 and 3031 metres within a zone of over-pressured, predominantly sandstone, reservoir. In addition dry gas was recovered from a deeper interval below 3,400 metres, good oil shows were encountered in the Liz fan and oil shows were encountered in the Beth fan. In each case though, reservoir quality was poor, and further detailed work will be undertaken to assess the results. A more detailed appraisal of the Liz well results will be included in the Annual Report and Accounts.

The Liz well proved to be complex yet it was highly encouraging. Hydrocarbons have been found in at least two separate intervals, the geological model for the basin has been confirmed and at least two petroleum systems have been found to be present, with hydrocarbon shows recorded over a wide interval. It was the first well to be drilled in a multi-well campaign by Desire and, after more detailed technical work has been carried out, Desire will decide which play type is to be drilled next. The Ocean Guardian is now subcontracted to Rockhopper Exploration and BHP for three wells and Desire expects to resume drilling sometime in the third quarter of 2010."

http://www.edisoninvestmentresearch.co.uk/research


All eyes now move to Rockhopper in the Falkland drilling campaign.

The Ocean
Guardian rig spudded the Sea Lion 14/10-B Exploration well last Friday. For the next
30 days, Rockhopper takes over the newsflow cycle in the Falklands. Sea Lion is
thought to have a higher chance of success than Liz and is around 10km away from
the only well from the 1998 campaign that had live oil shows. It is one of two key
targets Rockhopper has identified with 170mmbls best estimate prospective
resource. The other target, Ernest, will be the fourth well to be drilled and in between
Ocean Guardian will drill BHP/FOGLs Toroa prospect.
What we learnt from Liz: A working hydrocarbon system
Ocean Guardians first drilling slot in the Falklands ended in disappointment with
Desire plugging and abandoning the Liz well. This well showed that there is a working
hydrocarbon system over two intervals with oil and gas, with evidence of seals and
more sandstones than originally thought. However, poor reservoir quality ultimately
led to it being abandoned.

Sea Lion a more attractive prospect
While it is tempting to draw the inevitable closeology conclusion, Sea Lion has to be
treated as a different prospect to Liz. Sea Lion is physically the other side of the
North Falklands basin and is a shallower prospect, leading to the possibility that a
better reservoir will be encountered. It is less than 10km away from Shells 14/10-1
well, which was the only well from the 1998 drilling campaign that flowed live oil (27o
API). Based on the modern 3D seismic data Rockhopper collected over the target, it
believes Sea Lion is more prospective than 14/10-1. The CPR also suggested it is
less risky than Liz (23% chance of success versus 17%) and, unlike Liz, the 3D
seismic data shows AVO anomalies indicative of hydrocarbons.

Valuation: Volatility ahead, one way or the other
Sea Lion contributes 86p of our EMV-based value of 140p. A successful appraisal of
Sea Lion could potentially transform its value in our calculations, but over the next
month, we are expecting to see significant share price volatility that is normally
associated with any drilling campaign.