Rig: Well-Safe Guardian

The Well-Safe Guardian is no longer considered a drilling/tender rig and is now represented in WoodMacs USC vessel DB

The Well-Safe Guardian is no longer considered a drilling/tender rig and is now represented in WoodMacs USC vessel DB as a Well Intervention Vessel

Well-Safe Acquire Ocean Guardian

Well-Safe Solutions today announced that it has agreed to acquire the Ocean Guardian semi-submersible drilling unit sparking another jobs boost for the company. The asset, currently owned by Diamond Offshore, has been a stalwart in the North Sea, drilling hundreds of wells since entering service in 1985. Upon delivery, Well-Safe will start work immediately on an upgrade of the semi-submersible, which will be renamed the ‘Well-Safe Guardian’, converting the asset into a bespoke plug and abandonment (P&A) unit. Well-Safe will invest in the region of $100 million dollars on upgrades to deliver a truly bespoke P&A unit. This will include installing a dive system and the capability to deploy a SIL (subsea intervention lubricator) – which is nearing completion of the design and engineering phase, supported by the Oil and Gas Technology Centre (OGTC).

Midleton exploration well deemed non-commercial

Lansdowne Oil & Gas (“Lansdowne”), the independent oil and gas company focussed on offshore Ireland has announced that drilling at the Midleton exploration well in the Celtic Sea has been completed. Drilling was carried out using the Ocean Guardian semisub by the operator (PSE Kinsale Energy Limited), with the spudding of the well (49/11-3) taking place on 29th July 2015. The well has now reached a total depth (TD) of 3,480 feet and whilst good quality reservoirs were encountered, the volumes were not commercial and some were water bearing. The well is now being plugged and abandoned.

Petronas spuds Irish exploration well

Lansdowne Oil & Gas Plc (“Lansdowne”), has announced that the operator of the SEL 4/07 licence in the north of the Celtic Sea spudded the wildcat on the Midleton prospect in the early hours of Wednesday morning with the semi-submersible Ocean Guardian. The well is scheduled to take approximately 20 to 30 days to drill, with Petronas subsidiary Kinsale Energy funding 100% of the drilling costs. Midleton is estimated to hold potential for 330 billion cubic feet of gas initially in-place from the same Lower Cretaceous ‘A’ sands that are already producing at Kinsale Head.

'Ocean Guardian' contracted for offshore drilling in Ireland

Lansdowne Oil & Gas plc, a North Celtic Sea focussed oil and gas company, is pleased to announce that PSE Seven Heads Limited, the operator of SEL 4/07, and a wholly owned subsidiary of PSE Kinsale Energy Limited ("Kinsale Energy") has entered into a contract with Diamond Offshore Drilling (UK) Limited for the Ocean Guardian semisub to drill a well on the Midleton Prospect. The Ocean Guardian is expected to drill the Midleton well during August 2015, upon completion of its current contract with Shell. Kinsale Energy holds an 80% interest in SEL 4/07, with Lansdowne holding the remaining 20%. Through the farm-in agreement previously announced, Kinsale Energy will fund 100% of the costs of drilling a well (including the site survey work) on the Midleton prospect. Kinsale Energy is continuing work on well planning and further announcements will be made in due course.

14/10-9 Well Spud

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, announces that the 14/10-9 well (the "Well") was spudded at 10.45 hrs BST on 25 October 2011. The Well, situated on Licence PL032, which is 100% owned and operated by Rockhopper, is the eighth well to be drilled on the Sea Lion feature. It is located approximately 5.9 km to the south west of the 14/10-2 discovery well and is designed to investigate reservoir presence and hydrocarbon charge within the Sea Lion Main Complex towards the southern edge of the Company's acreage and is also an exploration well on the Eastern side of the Casper prospect. Drilling operations are expected to take approximately 33 days and a further announcement will be made once drilling is completed.

14/10-8 Well Spud

ockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, announces that the 14/10-8 exploration well (the "Well") was spudded at 03:45hrs BST on 25 September 2011. The Well is situated on Licence PL032, which is 100% owned and operated by Rockhopper, and is located approximately 4.1km to the south-south-east of the 14/10-2 discovery well, outside of the Sea Lion Discovery Area. This well is designed to investigate reservoir and hydrocarbon presence within the Sea Lion Main Complex in an area of relatively low amplitudes and is also an exploration well on both the Casper and Kermit oil prospects. Drilling operations are expected to take approximately 28 days and a further announcement will be made once drilling is completed.

14/10-7 Exploration Well Spud

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, announces that the 14/10-7 exploration well (the "Well") was spudded at 0600hrs BST on 22 August 2011. The Well is situated on Licence PL032, which is 100% owned and operated by Rockhopper. The Well is located approximately 3.3km to the north west of the 14/10-2 discovery well, just outside of the Sea Lion Discovery Area. The Well is designed to investigate reservoir and hydrocarbon presence towards the northern limit of the currently mapped extent of the Sea Lion Main Complex within an area of relatively low amplitudes. Accordingly, the Sea Lion Main Complex will be the only target, with reservoir expected to be thinner than encountered in the 14/10-2 discovery well. Drilling operations are expected to take approximately 32 days and a further announcement will be made once drilling is completed.

14/10-6 Appraisal Well Spud

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, announces that the 14/10-6 appraisal well ("the Well") was spudded at 2125 hrs BST on 15 July 2011. The Well is situated on Licence PL032, which is 100% owned and operated by Rockhopper, and is the third appraisal well to be drilled on the Sea Lion feature since Rockhopper's oil discovery in May 2010. The Well is located some 4.1km to the west of the 14/10-2 discovery well, on the western side of the structural low at top reservoir, and 2.3km to the south-west and 14m updip from the 14/10-4 appraisal well. The Well is designed to investigate reservoir and hydrocarbon presence outside what the Company considers the minimum case area. Both Sea Lion Main and Lower fan intervals are targets, with all the Sea Lion Main fan expected to be above the Oil-Water Contact established by the 14/10-4 appraisal well, and with reservoir expected to be thinner than encountered in previous wells on the Sea Lion feature. Drilling operations are expected to take approximately 38 days and a further announcement will be made once drilling is completed.

14/10-5 Appraisal Well Spud

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, announces that the 14/10-5 appraisal well ("the well") was spudded at 13.20hrs BST on 1 May 2011. The well is situated on Licence PL032, which is 100% owned and operated by Rockhopper. The well is located just north of the Sea Lion 14/10-2 discovery well and 13 metres updip at top reservoir level. The well is designed to appraise the Sea Lion main fan reservoir and investigate hydrocarbon column and reservoir distribution. The location is 77 metres updip at top reservoir level from the recently drilled 14/10-4 appraisal well. Specialist flow test equipment is being mobilised and Rockhopper intends, if reservoir is as prognosed, to flow test the well to obtain a greater understanding than was possible during the test of well 14/10-2 last year. Drilling operations are expected to take approximately 38 days and a further announcement will be made once drilling is completed.

14/15-3 exploration well result

Based on drilling and wireline logging, the well encountered two sand-prone sections in the Upper and Middle F2 intervals, which were the primary targets (2323 metres to 2334 metres and 2365 metres to 2389 metres). The sands have a combined gross thickness of 35 metres and oil shows were encountered throughout both intervals while drilling. The reservoir quality is generally poor having only 5.6 metres of net reservoir with an average porosity of 13%. A thin interval of around 1.2 metres at the top of the Middle F2 zone is interpreted to be oil bearing from log analysis. Wireline formation pressure measurements were attempted, but no valid pressures were obtained, indicating that the reservoirs are low permeability at this location. As a result no wireline sampling was attempted. The depositional model suggests these sands are sourced from the east and therefore better reservoir quality may be expected downdip. In addition, there are indications from seismic of further sands along strike on the Ninky structural high, which were not penetrated in this well. These opportunities will be evaluated with the new 3D seismic as part of the Operator's prospect inventory update. Operations on the Ninky well will now be completed and the well will be plugged and abandoned. Upon completion of operations on the Ninky well, the Ocean Guardian drilling rig will return to Rockhopper. Rockhopper will drill a minimum of 3 additional wells using the Ocean Guardian drilling unit. Rockhopper's next well is planned to be located near to the 14/10-2 discovery well. Specialist flow test equipment is due to be in the Islands in early May and Rockhopper intends to flow test the well if appropriate using this equipment to obtain a greater understanding than was possible during the test of well 14/10-2.

Ninky 14/15-3 exploration well spud

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, notes the announcement by Desire Petroleum plc (the "Operator") that the 14/15-3 exploration well on the Ninky prospect was spudded at 02.45 BST on 29 March 2011. Rockhopper has a 7.5% interest in the well. The Operator described the prospect as a combined structural dip and stratigraphic pinch-out trap with multiple reservoir targets within the Barremian source rock interval. The well has a planned total depth of circa 2,620 metres and drilling operations are expected to take approximately 30 days. The Operator will make a further announcement once logging is complete.

14/10-4 Appraisal Well Spud

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, announces that the 14/10-4 appraisal well was spudded at 0040hrs GMT on 19 February 2011. 14/10-4 is the first appraisal well to be drilled on the Sea Lion feature situated on Licence PL032, which is 100% owned and operated by Rockhopper. The appraisal well (14/10-4) is located 2.3km away from the Sea Lion 14/10-2 discovery well, in the southern lobe of the Sea Lion fan system. 14/10-4 is designed to investigate reservoir and hydrocarbon columns downdip of the Sea Lion 14/10-2 discovery well. The planned Target Depth of circa 3,000 metres will investigate the possibility of deeper sands than those encountered in the Sea Lion discovery well. Drilling operations are expected to take approximately 38 days and a further announcement will be made once drilling is completed.

14/10-3 Exploration Well Spud

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, announces that the 14/10-3 exploration well was spudded at 1700hrs GMT on 13 January 2011. 14/10-3 is located 8km North West of the Sea Lion 14/10-2 discovery well on Licence PL032, which Rockhopper operates and holds a 100% working interest in. The well is located on the undrilled northern lobe of the Sea Lion fan system. The well will also penetrate the distal, downdip portion of the newly-identified and underlying S2 fan body which has been mapped over an area of 42 sq. km. 14/10-3 is situated outside of the Sea Lion Discovery Area. Total depth is planned to be ca. 3,000 metres. Drilling operations are expected to take approximately 38 days and a further announcement will be made once drilling is completed. It is currently anticipated that, on completion of operations on 14/10-3, Rockhopper will drill 14/10-4, an appraisal well on the southern lobe of the Sea Lion fan system within the Discovery Area, before the rig is released.

Rachel North 14/15-2 - Oil discovery

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, notes the announcement by Desire Petroleum plc (the "Operator") that the 14/15-2 Rachel North well, in which Rockhopper holds a 7.5% working interest, has reached a total depth of 3052 metres. Preliminary data collected indicate that this well is an oil discovery. The Operator has run an initial suite of wireline logs and this together with the drilling data indicate that the well encountered a 349 metres gross interval from 2621 metres to 2970 metres of sands and shales with hydrocarbons, of which 57 metres is net pay in multiple zones. The thickest zone is 8 metres thick with an average porosity of 20%. Other zones are thinly bedded and lower porosity but require further analysis from additional wireline logs to establish reservoir potential. The Operator now intends to complete the wireline logging and wireline sampling programme to obtain more information on the reservoir quality, the hydrocarbon saturations and the fluid type to assess the significance of this discovery. Further information will be released in due course. The completion of the drilling of the Rachel North 14/15-2 well will complete Rockhopper's earn-in on Desire's licences PL03 and PL04 under the terms of the farm-in agreement and result in Rockhopper holding a 7.5% working and economic interest in those licences.

Rachel North spudded

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, notes the announcement by Desire Petroleum plc (the Operator) that the Rachel North 14/15-2 well, in which Rockhopper holds a 7.5% working interest, was spudded at 10:40 hrs GMT on 12 November 2010. A further announcement will be made once drilling is completed.

Result of Flow Test - Technical Update

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, is pleased to report the following update from the recent flow test on well 14/10-2: "Sea Lion 1". The test was carried out over four perforated intervals totalling 77m between 2,403m and 2,566m (below drill-floor). Upon retrieving the perforating guns, a gun misfire was apparent and only the top two intervals were found to have been perforated, meaning the lower two intervals did not contribute to the flow. After perforation, a small amount of oil was produced into the tubing to clean the perforations and enable downhole oil sampling. The well was then shut in for approximately 2 hours to determine the initial reservoir pressure. The final recorded pressure was 3,385 psia at gauge depth (2,344.6m below drill-floor) and was still building. The well was then opened to flow through the three and a half inch test string, initially on a 24/64th choke, opened to a 64/64th choke during the flow period and reduced to 44/64th towards the end of the flow period to allow samples to be taken. The well was flowed for approximately 18 hours without incident and for sustained periods of over 2,000 barrels per day ("BOPD") with a maximum rate of 2,304 BOPD. The final flowing wellhead pressure was approximately 120 psia. A wax dissolver chemical was injected at the subsea test valve to mitigate the appearance of wax. Rockhopper believes that the flow rate was inhibited by incomplete perforation, waxing of the tubing string above 800 metres, increased viscosity of the oil as it cooled in the upper part of the test string and a lack of specialist equipment. As such, the Company estimates that the well could have flowed at approximately 4,000 BOPD without these constraints. Rockhopper also believes that, with a more optimal well location and horizontal well completions, significantly higher flow rates could be achieved from future production wells.

Flow Test Update-Sea Lion 14/10-2 discovery well

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, announces that the Ocean Guardian drilling rig is at the location of the Sea Lion 14/10-2 discovery well and that operations to carry out a flow test on the Sea Lion main and lower fans are underway. While testing operations can be more sensitive to weather conditions than standard drilling operations, the Company anticipates that operations will be completed in approximately 30 days. A further announcement will be made on completion of operations.

Ernest 26/6-1 Exploration Well Spud

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, is pleased to announce that the Ernest 26/6-1 Exploration Well was spudded at 05.15hrs BST on 23 July 2010. The Ernest prospect is located on Licence PL024. Rockhopper will drill Ernest as operator with a 100% interest. The well is being drilled to an estimated target depth of circa 2,400 metres. Drilling operations are expected to take approximately 30 days and a further announcement will be made once drilling is completed. Ernest is being drilled using the fourth rig slot in the overall drilling programme of the Ocean Guardian rig. On completion of the Ernest 26/6-1 Exploration Well, it is currently anticipated that the Ocean Guardian will return to Rockhopper's Sea Lion 14/10-2 Well (100% Rockhopper) to conduct flow testing on the oil discovery.

Toroa Well Spudded

FOGL is pleased to announce that the Toroa F61/5-1 exploration well spudded on Monday 31st May 2010. The Toroa prospect is located in Licence PL15, in which FOGL has a 49% interest. The well is being drilled to an estimated target depth of circa 2,700 metres. Drilling operations are expected to take approximately 35 days and a further announcement will be made once drilling is completed.

Sea Lion - Oil Discovery

Rockhopper Exploration, the North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, is pleased to announce that well 14/10-2 on the Sea Lion prospect has reached a depth of 2,744 metres. Initial data collected indicate that this well is an oil discovery, which would be the first in the North Falkland Basin. The Company has run a suite of wireline logs and logging data collected thus far indicate that the well has encountered a 150 metre gross interval of sand and shales. The data show that the well has 53 metres of net pay distributed in multiple pay zones, the thickest of which has a net pay of 25 metres. These pay zones have an average porosity of 19%. Rockhopper now intends to collect additional logging information prior to making a decision whether to plug and abandon the well, or to suspend the well for future testing. The Company is also considering whether to drill an appraisal well on Sea Lion later during the current drilling campaign. Further information will be distributed in due course. It remains the intention of the Company to drill the Ernest prospect in the fourth slot of the overall Falklands Drilling programme. Samuel Moody, Managing Director, commented: "We are extremely excited by the results of this well. While we are presently acquiring additional data, current indications are that we have made the first oil discovery in the North Falkland Basin. We will now focus on analysing in more detail the data gathered from the well, in addition to continuing preparations for the drilling of our Ernest prospect later in the year."

Sea Lion 14/10-B Exploration Well Spud

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, is pleased to announce that the Sea Lion 14/10-B Exploration well was spudded at 0050hrs BST on 16 April 2010. The Sea Lion prospect is located on Licence PL032 which is 100% owned and operated by Rockhopper. The well is being drilled to an estimated target depth of circa 2,700 metres. Drilling operations are expected to take approximately 34 days and a further announcement will be made once drilling is completed. Sea Lion is being drilled using the second rig slot in the overall drilling programme. The Company currently intends to drill its Ernest prospect (100% Rockhopper) using the fourth slot.

Liz Well - Gas Discovery

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, notes the announcement by Desire Petroleum PLC (AIM: DES) regarding the Liz 14/19-1 well, in which Rockhopper has a 7.5% working interest: The Liz well 14/19-1, drilled by Desire Petroleum plc, in the North Falkland Basin, has reached a total depth of 3,667 metres. Final logging has been completed and the well is now being plugged and abandoned as a gas discovery. The initial log interpretation indicates that 17 metres of net hydrocarbon pay were encountered between 2961 and 3031 metres within a zone of over-pressured, predominantly sandstone, reservoir. A hydrocarbon sample and formation pressures were recovered from this interval. The initial analysis suggests that the hydrocarbon type is wet gas, but its precise characteristics will be confirmed through further analysis. There is no indication from log data or pressure data of a water-leg in this interval. Much work is now required to evaluate the reservoir quality, to determine the trapping mechanism and to assess the potential of this discovery. Dry gas was also recovered from a deeper interval below 3,400 metres indicating that gas pay is present in generally poor quality reservoir but there is considerable uncertainty on the rock type and more work will be required to assess its reservoir potential. This gas is a separate accumulation from that above, in a different pressure regime. Again further work is required to assess the significance of this interval. The Liz fan was encountered between 2,540 and 2,568 metres. Good oil shows were recorded while drilling but logging and sampling confirmed that this reservoir interval was tight. It is believed the Beth fan was also penetrated between 2,654 and 2,672 metres also with oil shows in tight reservoir. In both fans, work will now try to determine whether better quality reservoir may be developed updip. Weak oil shows were also noted in conglomeratic zones between 2,706 and 2,932 metres. The well was not suspended for later testing as the well was not designed to test over pressured gas. Additionally, further technical work is required in order to understand better the reservoirs to ensure any test is designed optimally. Due to increasing overpressure concerns the well did not reach the deepest play type in the pre-rift. Subsurface support is provided to Desire Petroleum by Senergy (GB) Ltd and the results reported today are based on the work of the Senergy operations team. Once Liz has been plugged and abandoned the Ocean Guardian drilling rig will be released to Rockhopper when it will relocate to drill the Sea Lion 14/10-B Exploration well (100% Rockhopper) on the western margin of the North Falkland Basin.

Liz 14/19-A Exploration Well Spud

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, notes the announcement by Desire Petroleum PLC (AIM: DES) that the Liz 14/19-A Exploration well, in which Rockhopper has a 7.5% working interest, was spudded on 22 February 2010.

Rig Contract Agreement Secured

Further to our press release dated 26 November 2009 FOGL is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement with Desire Petroleum plc to contract the Ocean Guardian rig to drill the first ever exploration well in the East Falklands Basin on the Toroa prospect, which it expects will be within the first half of 2010.

Drilling Programme Update

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, is pleased to announce that it has been formally assigned two slots with the Ocean Guardian drilling rig ("Ocean Guardian"), to drill Sea Lion and Ernest, during its forthcoming drilling campaign in the Falklands. This assignment is pursuant to a rig contract between Desire Petroleum PLC ("Desire") and Diamond Offshore Drilling (UK) Limited ("Diamond") and an assignment document between Desire, Diamond and Rockhopper dated 12th November 2009. The Ocean Guardian is due to arrive in the Falklands in February 2010. The first well to be drilled by the rig, due to spud in mid February 2010, will be Liz (Rockhopper: 7.5 per cent interest), located on the western margin of the North Falkland Basin and operated by Desire (92.5 per cent interest). The second well to be drilled by the Ocean Guardian upon its release from Liz will be Sea Lion (Rockhopper: 100 per cent owned and operated). The prospect is located on the eastern basin margin of the North Falkland Basin and is in close proximity to the Shell well 14/10-1, which recovered live oil. Rockhopper will then be assigned either the third or fourth slot to drill the Ernest well. Ernest is located in licence PL024 and has a positive CSEM (Controlled Source Electromagnetic Anomaly). The Ocean Guardian drilling rig departed the Cromarty Firth in Scotland on Thursday 26 November en route to Liz, in the North Falkland Basin. Further information regarding the upcoming drilling campaign is contained in Rockhopper's announcement about the recent share placing dated 26 October 2009.

Drilling Programme Update

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, is pleased to announce that it has submitted the Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS") Addendum, which is required for the planned drilling programme anticipated to commence in Q1 2010, to the Falkland Island Government for its approval. The update includes details of the Ocean Guardian drilling rig which will be used by Rockhopper and its partners during 2010. It is anticipated that the updated EIS will receive formal approval shortly. A copy of the EIS Addendum will be posted on the Rockhopper website in due course.

Rig Update

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, is pleased to announce that the Ocean Guardian drilling rig departed from the Cromarty Firth in Scotland at 2.00pm on Thursday 26 November en route to Falkland Island waters. The journey is anticipated to take around two months with the rig expected to arrive in the Falklands ready to commence drilling around early February 2010.