News

March 23, 2009

FOGL Aims To Spud First Falkland Islands Well In Late 2009 While Investors Keep An Anxious Eye On The Oil Price

The oil price did for the last exploration campaign in the Falkland Islands in 1998. After a series of wells in the North Falkland Basin failed to live up to pre-drill hype, the onset of US$10 a barrel oil gave operators little incentive to follow up those expensive and inconclusive wells. More than ten years on, those who believe the explorers of 1998 turned their back on one of the last major untapped oil and gas provinces in the world are once again watching the oil price. Last summer’s record highs certainly did no harm to the economics of drilling in these remote waters but the current slow down is also not without its benefits: the associated easing in the rig market should help the new crop of operators access the hardware they need to revisit these waters.

Falkland Oil and Gas Limited, which is focused on the never-drilled waters to the south and east of the Falkland Islands, hopes to be drill-ready for its first well in the third quarter of this year.  The AIM company’s drilling plans were given a major boost in late 2007 when it bagged mining and metals giant BHP Billiton as a farm-in partner.  FOGL’s chief executive Tim Bushell described the farm-in, which saw the Australian firm earn a 51 per cent interest in the licences by...