Falkland Oil & Gas well funded to begin drilling on new project in 2015

16th Sep 2014 13:30

Falkland Oil & Gas reported a pre-tax loss of $1.3m for the six months ended 30 June, compared to a $0.9m loss in the same period in 2013, but said it was well funded to begin a new drilling programme.The firm, however, said that with over $108m in the bank, it has sufficient funds for its proposed five-well drilling programme and it aims to get the project underway in 2015."Drilling is expected to commence in 2015. In the South Falkland Basin, where Falkland Oil & Gas has a 52.5% working interest, the drilling programme will include two deep-water wells operated by Noble Energy," the company said in statement on Tuesday.Three wells, all operated by Premier Oil, are planned in the North Falkland Basin, including appraisal drilling on the Sea Lion field in Zebedee and exploration wells on the Jayne and Isobel/Elaine prospects.The oil and gas producer said its five-well drilling programme would be targeting over 1.3bn of gross prospective resources.Group chairman Richard Liddell hailed the contracting of a deep-water rig as one of the highlights of the first six months of 2014 and remained positive about the company’s outlook."The first half of 2014 was marked by two major achievements, with the completion of a large 3D seismic programme and the contracting of a deep-water rig," he said.“We have made excellent progress in preparing for the drilling campaign which could transform the company."Falkland shares were down 4.77% to 28.45p at 13:46 on Tuesday.