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Falkland explorers discover oil and gas in Zebedee, the first well of new campaign

Published: 07:29 02 Apr 2015 BST

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The new Falklands oil drilling campaign has got off to a flyer as the Zebedee exploration well has discovered oil and gas, and the results are better than expected.

Zebedee could potentially be a bolt-on to the Sea Lion oil field, and as such today’s result could have significant implications for the development project.

It is good news for exploration partners Falkland Oil & Gas (LON:FOGL), Premier Oil (LON:PMO) and Rockhopper (LON:RKH); which respectively own 40%, 36% and 24%.

The Zebedee well encountered 25 metres of net oil pay in the Zebedee sand, and found 17.5 metres of net gas pay in the Hector sand. Both reservoir intervals are said to be good quality. A third interval, potentially an extension of the Beverley sand, also contained 2.5 metres of net oil pay.

Falkland Oil & Gas (LON:FOGL) said it is encouraged by the positive results which were better than pre-drill expectations and it expects they will positively affect resource estimates for the new discovery.

"This is an excellent result and one that adds significantly to the proven hydrocarbon resources of licence PL004b and the greater Sea Lion area,” said FOGL chief executive Tim Bushell.

“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.”

Andrew Lodge, Premier Oil’s exploration director, highlighted that the new Zebedee discoveries will add to the “future phases of development in the area”.

Lodge added that exploration partners now look forward to the drilling of the Isobel Deep prospect, which he said is potentially the highest impact well in this campaign.

Rockhopper chief executive Sam Moody, meanwhile, described Zebedee as a “fantastic start” to the programme and an “early proof” of the significant remaining potential of the North Falkland Basin.

“The new discoveries add to our already significant resources we have discovered in the basin and we now look forward to drilling the higher risk Isobel prospect before the rig moves to drill in the South Falkland Basin," he added.

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