Falkland Islands gov’t extends offshore license containing Sea Lion oil field

The Falkland Islands government has granted an extension for the PL032 Discovery Area offshore license containing the Sea Lion oil discovery discovered by Rockhopper in 2010.

Rockhopper, which owns a 40 percent stake in the PL032 license located in the North Falkland Basin, said Monday that the Falkland Islands government had extended the license until May 1, 2021, with no additional license commitments.

The license, operated by Premier Oil with a 60 percent stake, was previously due to expire on 15 April 2020.

Premier Oil and Rockhopper are working to develop the Sea Lion field in phases. The Sea Lion Phase 1 will develop 250 mmbbls of resources in PL032 using a conventional FPSO based scheme.

The UK-based operator of the project recently said it had started a Sea Lion stake farm-down process “to optimize its level of participation in the project, ahead of a final investment decision.

The company has been in talks to secure a loan to fund the development of the first phase of the 250 mmboe (gross) of resources in Phase 1 of the Sea Lion project. Capex to first oil is estimated at approximately US$1.8 billion (gross).  

Elsewhere in the Falkland Islands, the government last week extended the term of Argos Resources’ offshore license PL001 by 18 months, giving the company time to find a partner and drill an exploration well.

Offshore Energy Today Staff

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