Rockhopper plans next move after Sea Lion 1

27th Sep 2010 07:51

North Falkland Basin oil and gas explorer Rockhopper confirmed today it has plugged and abandoned the Sea Lion 1 well while it pores over the drill and test results.Sea Lion 1, the first oil discovery in the area, said it now has to look at the data and plan the next phase in proving the reserves discovered.It is also participating in a number of wells on Desire Petroleum-operated licences PL003 and PL004 in which it has a 7.5% working interest.The £1bn company, which only floated on AIM five years ago, said last week that flow tests on Sea Lion 1 might have been twice the 2,000 barrels a day recorded had it not been for a technical glitch.Analysts at broker Westhouse aren't too worried though. They think there's nothing in the results which cannot be mitigated by engineering solutions, albeit at additional cost.