Premier Oil makes Falkland Islands discovery at “most material well” of drilling campaign
Analysts heralded yesterday’s announcement from London-listed Premier Oil, revealing that it has made an oil discovery at its Falkland Islands Isobel prospect, as “encouraging news” for the group.
Andrew Lodge, exploration director at the FTSE 250 company, said the find was “an important play opening discovery” in a previously unexplored area of the North Falkland Basin.
Shares in the company were up by 2.18 per cent yesterday, and First Energy Capital noted the positive market reaction to Premier’s news. The brokerage said this was “the most material well” of Premier’s 2015 drilling campaign, and the result was important for the basin as a whole.
Meanwhile, analysts from First Energy and VSA Capital Research said the discovery would make Premier’s assets more attractive when it comes to seeking out potential partners.
Meanwhile, shares in Rockhopper Exploration, which also has an interest in the Isobel well, went up by 5.76 per cent yesterday.
Rockhopper boss Sam Moody said the next actions in appraising the discovery will be decided over the coming weeks, but initial signs were encouraging.
And Malcolm Graham-Wood, analyst at Hydrocarbon Capital, said: “This is clearly another big success for the teams out in the Falklands and finding a workable hydrocarbon system, with movable oil and recovering to surface justifies the faith in the region.”