Rockhopper Exploration begins flow test on Sea Lion oil discovery well in Falklands

Rockhopper Exploration (LON:RKH) has announced that a flow test on the Sea Lion 14/10-2 offshore discovery well in the Falkland Islands is now underway. The operations are expected to take 30 days.
Rockhopper noted that testing operations could be more sensitive to weather conditions than standard drilling operations.
The flow test is expected to give an early indication of the production potential of the reservoir sands and will be a key part of the planning process required to move forward to full appraisal and possible development programmes.

Broker Westhouse called the flow test an important step in the de-risking of Sea Lion.

“From a volume perspective, Rockhopper’s Sea Lion discovery is commercial. However, commerciality also depends on achieving commercial flow rates,” said the broker.
The Sea Lion well has so far been the sole success of the closely followed drilling campaign in the Falklands. Analysis performed on the well in June showed that it had discovered medium gravity oil.
The analysis of the discovery confirmed the first contingent resource in the Falklands, and upped the recoverable resource estimates from 170 mmbbls (million barrels) to 242 mmbbls.
Rockhopper has recently plugged and abandoned the Ernest 26/6-1 exploration well, which provided to be a dry hole after all logging runs were completed.
The wider Falklands play is made up of two separate basins, the North basin and the South basin. Rockhopper and Desire Petroleum (LON:DES) have been drilling their interests in the North basin, and Borders & Southern (LON:BOR) and Falkland Oil & Gas (LON:FOGL) have prospective interests in the South Basin.