MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Rockhopper completes volumetric work in North Falklands' basin

Rockhopper Exploration plc, the North Falkland Islands explorer, announced that volumetric work has been completed on the Company's leads and prospects in licences PL023 and PL024. The work suggests un-risked P50 recoverable reserves of in aggregate 2.5 billion barrels of oil providing encouragement against the backdrop of an easing rig market.

Rockhopper also reported that it is further encouraged following an initial review of 3D seismic data covering licences PL032 and PL033, from where oil was recovered in 1998. The survey is the most modern 3D project undertaken in the Falkland Islands to date. Significantly, both structural closures and fan type bodies can already be seen. Rockhopper has now completed volumetric work using the 2D seismic data collected in 2006 on a number of targets in licences PL023 and PL024 which suggests un-risked P50 recoverable reserves of in aggregate 2.5 billion barrels. All of these targets are in relatively shallow water depths of less than 200m. The Company believes that the net present value of a single 100 million barrel recoverable oil field would be between US$750 million and US$1 billion. The best eleven structural targets are identified with Islands names, Beauchene, Bleaker, Concordia, Dolphin, Ernest, Golding, Keppel, Pebble, Saunders, Usborne and Weddell. Ernest, which is a 4 way closure with a positive CSEM anomaly, located in the North of PL024, remains the most attractive prospect. Rockhopper expects to receive the final processed 3D volume at the end of July. This 3D covers an area of over 800 square kilometers and extends along some 30km of the untested eastern basin margin. Data acquisition took place between November 2006 and January 2007 and the survey is the largest of the three 3D surveys carried out in the North Falkland Basin. The Company has already received the initial Quality Control ("QC") volume. These data are of high quality and represent the most modern 3D undertaken in the Falkland Islands to date. The QC data volume is the entire data volume, delivered prior to the completion of processing. It allows the Company to make an initial interpretation of the data and also to finalize the processing work required. The initial interpretation of the QC volume reveals a number of structural closures and two large fan bodies that can clearly be seen even at this early stage. Once interpretation of the final processed 3D data is completed, prospects will be ranked and drilling locations will be decided.