Premier Oil has increased its 2015 exploration budget by $20 million to account for higher investments in its drilling campaign in the Falkland Islands, the company said this week in a trading update. The company also revealed it is considering further drilling at the Isobel Deep recent discovery instead of going on to Jayne East in North Falkland.
The Falkland Islands Government welcomed Thursday's announcement by Premier Oil and partners that the 14/20-1 ‘Isobel Deep’ exploration well has been declared an oil discovery. Isobel Deep in the North Falkland basin, is the second well of a six-well offshore campaign planned to take place in the Islands waters through 2015.
Premier Oil, currently involved in successful exploratory drilling in the Falkland Islands, produced less oil and gas in the first quarter of the year, but its output of 60,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) was above guidance, sending its shares higher on Wednesday.
Following its success with the Zebedee drill, the rig Eirik Raude is moving a short distance to start the second well of the latest Falkland Islands exploration campaign. The next target of the current four prospects exploration campaign is Isobel Deep, later followed by Jayne East and finally Chatham.
A recent piece from the Financial Times points to the fact that despite the remoteness of the Falkland Islands, the fall of international oil prices and the ongoing conflict with Argentina, this has not impeded small oil and gas companies from going ahead with exploration, and hopefully before 2020 production, in the Islands waters.
The Falkland Islands economy has witnessed impressive, although volatile, growth in recent years with unemployment rates low enough to be the envy of most countries in the world and the government is free of debt, according to the latest State of the Economy released by the Falklands Policy Unit.
Premier Oil spudded its first 2015 Falklands drilling campaign well, 14/15-5, using the Eirik Raude semisubmersible drilling rig on the Zebedee prospect on 6 March. The well, on license PL004b, will test a total of seven stacked fan bodies with varying geological chances of success (GCoS) of 9-52%.
The British company Rockhopper Exploration, with interests in the Falkland Islands, has been awarded a licence to explore, together with Italy's Eni, a field for possible oil and gas exploitation in the central part of the Croatian Adriatic.
The Falkland Islands Government said on Thursday it took notice of the announcement by Premier Oil of their revised proposal for commercial oil production in the Falkland Islands, which “it is considered represents a realistic solution to progress development in the current international oil price environment”.
Premier Oil has updated progress on the Sea Lion project, the first field development offshore the Falkland Islands. Latest subsurface studies suggest recoverable reserves for the Phase 1 development at 308 MMbbl, with further upside of 60 MMbbl if next year’s well on the Chatham prospect confirms that there is no gas cap in the western side of the field.