MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Desire's progress continues

DESIRE Petroleum plc continues to progress towards exploratory drilling in the Falklands.

Chief Executive Ian Duncan was in the Islands earlier this month along with a representative of consultants RPS Group plc, to work on an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

Mr Duncan said Desire's EIA will be an update on that carried out in 1998 and preparation work involved meetings with the government's Minerals, Fisheries, Public Works and Environmental Planning departments, along with Falklands Conservation and government officials.

He said RPS will now work on EIA with a view to submitting it at the end of November. It will publish in the Gazette then a forty-two day consultation period will begin. This will involve a public meeting, which Mr Duncan will attend, which is expected to take place in February.

According to Mr Duncan, Desire is "very conscious" of the importance of the Falkland Islands environment, "...and we must do everything properly." The EIA, he said, is part of that "proper" approach.

He added, "A lot of time has passed since 1998, we need to address any issues that people may have today. We want to involve people in the process, we want to be open and transparent - we're aware of our responsibilities."

Originally, Desire's exploratory drilling, planned to take place in the summer, has been delayed due to the unavailability of a rig. Mr Duncan said, "We're still looking for a rig; Peak Well Management (contracted by Desire) is involved with drilling around 30 wells worldwide and is talking to all the major owners. So we will get one, hopefully sooner, rather than later."

He said the drilling, which will take place in the same area as the 1998 exploration, will take a shorter time than it did then.

"We are looking at around 100 days," adding, "...there's good base line information, it's a very routine operation. "We're very well up on the learning curve."

Source: Penguin News