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LONDON (Alliance News) - Premier Oil PLC, Falkland Oil and Gas PLC and Rockhopper Exploration PLC Wednesday all said an oil and gas discovery has been made at the Zebedee well in the Falkland Islands.
FTSE-250 Premier Oil holds a 36% stake in the Zebedee well, with Falkland Oil holding a 40% interest and Rockhopper holds a 25% stake. All three companies released separate statements.
The Zebedee well is on License PL004b, and the companies said all seven of the reservoir targets at the well were encountered and three of the targets were oil bearing. Wireline logging and formation test data indicate that a total of 18.5 metres of net gas pay, and 27.9 metres of net oil pay were encountered in the well.
The Hector sand, one of the three targets that were oil bearing, showed a net gas pay of 18.5 metres and the initial indications show "good reservoir properties", but no oil was found. The companies said that the reservoir may be oil bearing further down.
The Zebedee sand was the principal target of the well, and provided a net oil pay of 25.3 metres with no water being encountered. The companies said the reservoir quality was "amongst the best encountered to date".
The third F2 sand, also called the Ninky South, which was not an original target but still encountered, provided a net oil pay of 2.6 metres.
The Zebedee well will now be plugged and abandoned as a successful well, with the rig moving to drill the first exploration test on the Elaine/Isobel fan complex in the southern part of the North Falkland Basin with the Isobel Deep well and the results will be available in April, said the companies.
""This is an excellent result and one that adds significantly to the proven hydrocarbon resources of licence 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 Tim Bushell, chief executive of Falkland Oil.
"In addition to the new discoveries at Zebedee and Hector, we have good oil shows throughout the deeper F3 section which is encouraging should better quality reservoir be encountered in this section elsewhere in the basin," said Samuel Moody, chief executive of Rockhopper.
"They will add further resource to future phases of development in the area. We now look forward to the results of the upcoming Isobel Deep well, potentially the highest impact well in this campaign," said Andrew Lodge, exploration director at Premier Oil.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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