Argos Resources has successfully secured a 12-month extension to the second term of its Production Licence in the North Falkland Basin, the company announced this week. The extension, which runs until 1 May 2022, was approved by the Falkland Islands Government’s Executive Council on March 24.
The Falkland Islands Government has taken notice of the recent press release concerning the proposed merger of Premier Oil plc and Chrysaor Holdings Ltd.
The Falkland Islands government announced on Monday that it is currently in discussion with Premier Oil on a wide range of issues with the objective of progressing the Sea Lion development towards a successful project sanction.
A statement released earlier this afternoon from the Falkland Islands Government regarding the UN announcement of the extension of the Argentine continental shelf states that the announcement makes “no adjudication on the sovereignty of the Falkland Island and has no implications for the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands”.
The Falkland Islands government would not permit anything less than full and proper abandonment of exploration wells drilled by any operator in the Falkland Islands, stated Director of Mineral Resources Stephen Luxton this week, following news of a contractual dispute between Premier Oil and Ocean Rig over the drilling rig Eirik Raude.
The most recent meeting of the Falkland Islands' Executive Council (ExCo) was dominated by matters relating to oil exploration and development including recommendations for plans of Noble Energy and Premier Oil to go ahead with drilling of Rhea-1 and Jayne East wells.
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.
The Falkland Islands maintain strong regulatory oversight on all oil and gas operations and its offshore safety regime is based on the North Sea’s Safety Case regulatory structure, recognized as one of the highest standards in the world, said the Falklands' government in a release following concerns related to technical issues on the rig Eirik Raude, currently operating in the South Atlantic.
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 semi-submersible oil rig oil rig Eirik Raude entered Falkland Islands waters to the north this week and has already been served by supply vessels and undergone a crew change operation. The Eirik Raude will shortly begin a six-well drilling campaign operated by Premier Oil and Noble Energy.