Falkland Islands government extends offshore licence containing Sea Lion oil field
The Falkland Islands government has granted an extension for the PL032 Discovery Area offshore licence containing the Sea Lion oil discovery discovered by Rockhopper in 2010.
Rockhopper, which owns a 40 percent stake in the PL032 licence located in the North Falkland Basin, said on the 4th November that the Falkland Islands government had extended the license until the 1st May 2021, with no additional license commitments.
The licence, operated by Premier Oil with a 60 percent stake, was previously due to expire on the 15th 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 optimise 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, last week the government extended the term of Argos Resources’ offshore licence PL001 by 18 months, giving the company time to find a partner and drill an exploration well.
Source: Offshore Energy Today