Desire moves to reassure shareholders

MIDLAND-registered oil and gas exploration firm Desire Petroleum moved to restore confidence in its future today by saying it was encouraged by results from its latest seismic searches,

The Malvern company, which is wholly focused on the North Falkland Basin, saw shares dip 60% in April when it warned that a shortage of funds may hamper future drilling operations.

In an exploration update today, chairman Stephen Phipps said: “We are pleased with the preliminary results from the new seismic data and feel that it highlights new prospectivity within our acreage.

“We anticipate the prospect inventory will continue to grow as the fully processed seismic data are delivered and interpreted.”

The company said its latest 3D seismic programme was now complete and had covered an area around 878 sq miles.

It said that combined with its existing 3D data, the company had now surveyed almost the entire area covered by the Liz, Ann, Pam and Helen prospects.  A planned extension of the survey to the south was curtailed due to poor weather conditions.

Desire said the fully processed data for the northern part of Tranche D and the Ann prospect were being fast-tracked and are expected to be available in July. A full data set is not expected until the end of the year.

However, it said raw data retrieved so far suggested the initial hopes for new prospects were encouraging.  In particular, two new leads, Beverley and Shona, have been identified so far.  

The Shona lead is at the same stratigraphic level as Desire’s licence partner Rockhopper’s recent discovery and extends northwards, while the Beverley lead is at a shallower stratigraphic level.

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