Result of Flow Test-Sea Lion

RNS Number : 9110S

Rockhopper Exploration plc

17 September 2010

 



For immediate release: 17 September 2010

Rockhopper Exploration plc

("Rockhopper" or the "Company")

Result of Flow Test- Sea Lion 14/10-2

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, is pleased to report the successful test of well 14/10-2: "Sea Lion 1."

Sea Lion 1 was drilled in a water depth of 451m during April and May 2010 and suspended for future testing, having encountered a gross oil column of 217m with net pay of 53m. Initial MDT samples were confirmed as medium grade crude oil of 26 .4 Ð 29.2 API gravity.

Sea Lion 1 was re-entered during September 2010 and was flowed for 18 hours. The well tested at sustained rates in excess of 2,000 barrels per day with a maximum rate of 2,304 barrels per day. The flow test results are in line with Rockhopper's pre-test expectations and were significantly limited by downhole and surface equipment. The well produced no water, no H2S and negligible CO2. Downhole pressures were recorded and their analysis will inform the Company's development scoping plans. A number of downhole and surface samples were collected and will be further analysed in the UK.

The test was carried out with limited equipment owing to the length of the logistics chain and timelines involved in securing such equipment. Rockhopper anticipates that the additional equipment that would be incorporated into any future test, when combined with a more optimal well location, would result in a significantly higher flow rate.

Rockhopper now intends to plug and abandon the well as planned.

Pierre Jungels, Executive Chairman, commented:

"Rockhopper is the first company to successfully flow oil to surface in Falkland Islands waters. The test has provided vital information which will allow us to move forward through appraisal, a key step in proving the reserves discovered.

We believe that Sea Lion is the largest fan sandstone body in the North Falkland Basin and, given this successful flow test, that the Sea Lion discovery will be commercially viable."

Enquiries:

Rockhopper Exploration plc

Sam Moody - Managing Director

Tel. [phone] (via M: Communications)

M: Communications

Patrick dÕAncona or Ben Simons

Tel. [phone]

Canaccord Genuity Limited

Robert Finlay / Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor

Tel. [phone]

Notes to Editors

Rockhopper was established in February 2004 with a strategy to invest in and carry out an offshore oil exploration programme to the north of the Falkland Islands. The Company floated on AIM in August 2005 and holds a 100 per cent. interest in four offshore production licences: PL023, PL024, PL032 and PL033 which cover approximately 3,800 sq. km. Rockhopper has also farmed in (7.5% working interest) to licences PL003 and PL004, which are operated by Desire Petroleum. These licences have been granted by the Falkland Islands government.

An extensive work programme has been carried out over a number of years on the licences operated by Rockhopper. This has included 2D and 3D Seismic and Controlled Source Electromagnetic Mapping (CSEM). In February 2010, the Ocean Guardian drilling rig arrived in Falkland waters to carry out a multi-well drilling campaign. Rockhopper drilled an exploration well on its Sea Lion prospect during April and May 2010, the result of which was the first oil discovery and Contingent Oil Resource in the North Falkland Basin. The Sea Lion discovery was successfully tested during September 2010 and was the first oil to flow to surface in Falkland Islands waters.

Rockhopper Exploration plc www.rockhopperexploration.co.uk

NB: For the purpose of the Guidance Note for Mining, Oil and Gas companies - issued by the London Stock Exchange in respect of AIM companies, which outline standards of disclosure for mineral projects - this statement has been approved by the Company's geological staff including David Bodecott (Exploration Director), who is a Member of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain (PESGB) and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) with over 30 years of experience in petroleum exploration and management.

 

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