MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands first well of current drilling program declared “oil and gas discovery”

MLA Jan Cheek said the Zebedee discovery identifies additional resources that could form part of subsequent phases of the Sea Lion field development

The Falkland Islands government welcomed on Thursday the announcement by Premier Oil and partners that the 14/15b=5 “Zebedee” well has been declared an oil and gas discovery following the completion of its evaluation program, Zebedee is the first of six wells from the current drilling campaign planned to take place in Falklands waters during 2015.

 “We congratulate Premier and their partners on this early success, which provides an excellent start to the 2015 exploration program. The Zebedee discovery identifies additional resources that could form part of subsequent phases of the Sea Lion field development”, said Jan Cheek member of the elected Legislative Assembly and Mineral Resources portfolio holder.

According to the official release from Premier Oil, the Zebedee well (14/15b-5) in PL004b discovered 25 meters of net oil-bearing reservoir and 17 m of net gas-bearing reservoir in the Falkland Islands

Premier has 36% equity in Zebedee, while Falklands Oil & Gas has 40% and Rockhopper, 24%.

The well penetrated multiple targets in the Cretaceous F2 and F3 formations with a total hydrocarbon net pay of 41 m. The pay is primarily located within two F2 sands: the Hector sand, which contains 17 m of net gas pay, and the Zebedee sand, which contains 24 m of net oil pay. No oil-water contact was observed in Zebedee.

“The reservoir at both the Hector and Zebedee intervals is of good quality and the above results are in line with prognosis”, Premier said.

Pressure measurements taken in the Zebedee interval plot on the same gradient as those observed in the oil leg of the Sea Lion field. It is likely therefore, that Zebedee reservoir is in pressure communication with, and has the same oil-water contact as Sea Lion.

Good oil shows were recorded at the deeper F3 targets, but at this location the sands are not well developed.

The well will now be plugged and abandoned as a successful exploration well.

The Eirik Raude rig will then drill the first exploration test of the Elaine/Isobel fan complex in the southern part of the North Falkland Basin with the Isobel Deep well, according to the release. The results of this well are expected in late April.

“We are delighted to announce the discoveries in the Hector and Zebedee fans, which extend the play fairway further south from Sea Lion and the satellites. They will add further resource to future phases of development

“This is an excellent result and one that adds significantly to the proven hydrocarbon resources of license PL004b and the greater Sea Lion area. This well further confirms the extension of the Sea Lion discovery and associated reservoirs into PL004b, which have now been demonstrated to contain a significant proportion of the total field resources”, said Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd CEO Tim Bushell.

”FOGL looks forward to continuing to work with its partners to progress development of the substantial oil and gas resources within PL004b”

Rockhopper’s Samuel Moody considered the news “a fantastic start of the 2015 exploration campaign in the Islands.”

Meanwhile Argentina announced it was renewing its legal offensive against British efforts to explore and produce oil and gas off the Falklands/Malvinas Islands and will try to send to court the heads of the companies who are leading the efforts.

“The new exploration efforts to try to find hydrocarbons in the area carry a huge environmental risk,” Malvinas Islands Affairs Secretary Daniel Filmus told the state-run news agency Telam.

The Argentine Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Planning Ministry are expected to carry out a joint legal filing over the next few days against the exploration efforts.

“We want the owners of the companies to be tried according to Argentine laws and international statutes,” Filmus said. The secretary who is in charge of coordinating all of the government’s actions relating to the disputed Islands said that the process “could end with an Argentine judge issuing an arrest warrant against those who operate illegally in Argentine waters”.