Desire looks to farm out drilling operation to Falklands partner
MIDLAND-registered oil exploration firm Desire Petroleum is to farm-out some of its drilling work to its partner in the North Falkland Basin operation, Rockhopper.
The Malvern company is seeking the approval of the Falkland Islands Government to allow Rockhopper to drill part of its Tranche D licensed area.
The agreement will save Desire the cost of having to complete the drilling operation.
In return for the drilling deal, Rockhopper will take a stake in any operation that leads to the discovery of hydrocarbons.
Rockhopper will drill the well using the Ocean Guardian rig, which is already carrying out exploration operations in the basin area.
Stephen Phipps, chairman of Desire, said: “We are very pleased that this agreement to farm out part of Tranche D to Rockhopper will enable another well to be drilled on our acreage in this current drilling campaign, at no further cost to Desire.
“Under the terms Desire still retains a significant interest in the prospectivity of Tranche D. In addition, the recently evaluated fast track 3D seismic data shot earlier this year has brought some exciting new prospects into play and underpins our core belief in the prospectivity within our acreage.”
He said a report evaluating the data was expected to be published shortly.
Sam Moody, chief executive of Rockhopper, said: “Our technical work to date has shown that the Sea Lion field may extend onto the Desire acreage. We are therefore very pleased to have agreed a farm-in deal with Desire which will allow us to appraise what we believe is the full extent of Sea Lion and to become the operator of that part of the licence.”
