MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands’ appraisal well confirms oil quality at Sea Lion prospect discovery

Rockhopper CEO Sam Moody: “an enormously encouraging result”

Rockhopper Exploration operating in the North Falkland basin has provided an upbeat update on its second appraisal well, 14/10-5, on the Sea Lion discovery which was drilled 600 m north of the 14/10-2 discovery well to a TD of 2,726 m.

The well proved a very thick, high quality reservoir and a substantial oil column, with the geological prognosis coming in close to prediction, reported Rockhopper in a release.

It encountered the Sea Lion reservoir sands 22 m updip from the discovery well at a depth of 2,378 m. It intersected 110 m of reservoir, comprising one main sand and three thinner sands with a net to gross of 91% in the main sand and 25-80% in the lower sands.

Rockhopper says the gross oil column in the main Sea Lion fan is now 125 m. MDT pressures confirm oil gradients throughout all sands. Wire-line logging indicates good reservoir quality, with average porosity above 20% and average permeabilities of 100-200mD.

The well encountered 79 m of net pay in the main fan complex with a net to gross of 91%, and 14.5 m of pay in the lower fan complex with a net to gross of 25-80%. The lower fan was not prognosed to be well developed at this location. Around 64 m of conventional core was cut and recovered through the main sand.

As a next step Rockhopper said it plans mini DSTs on both the upper and lower fans and a fully engineered DST on the upper fan. These operations should last around one month.

Following completion, the company aims to drill a further appraisal well 4.2 km west of the discovery well. One aim is to penetrate the lower fan in what may prove to be a more optimal location.

Rockhopper’s Chief Executive Sam Moody said “this is an enormously encouraging result and is a testament to the quality of our technical team. The well test will be another key step on the road towards proving commerciality for the Sea Lion discovery.”

Rockhopper drilled an exploration well on its Sea Lion prospect during April and May 2010, the result of which was the first oil discovery and Contingent Oil Resource in the North Falkland Basin.

The Sea Lion discovery was successfully tested during September 2010 and was the first oil to flow to surface in Falkland Islands waters. Rockhopper has contracted seismic vessels MV Polarcus Asima and Nadia to carry out a 3D seismic survey, beginning December 2010, over areas of licences PL024, PL032 and PL033 which were not previously defined by 3D, as well as adjacent areas.