Originally Posted by
ORAC
That's a lot of oil, and shallow water so easily exploitable....
Rockhopper discovery could open new oil province
Summary
Rockhopper Exploration discovered crude oil at its Sea Lion prospect at a depth of 2,744 meters. The well was drilled by Diamond Offshore's Ocean Guardian rig. This is the first discovery near in the North Falkland basin. A suite of electric logs indicate that the well found 150 gross meters of oil bearing sandstones and shales of which it appears 53 meters are net pay. Average porosity is 19%. Rockhopper will collect additional information before deciding to suspend or abandon the well.
Analysis
Rigzone Newsletter reported on Rockhoppers discovery recently. Until now, the southern offshore basins east of Argentina have been underexplored. The North Falkland basin, thought to be a Jurassic-Cretaceous failed-rift zone, is 500 kilometers north of the islands in water depths that vary between 150 and 2,000 meters. The Rockhopper discovery is apparently in water less than 200 meters deep. This means development can be done from a platform. Rockhopper's evaluation of reconnaissance (2D) and delineation (3D) seismic surveys suggest that their properties could contain up to 2.5 billion barrels. This makes it highly prospective. All together, the company has identified 11 structural targets, of which 10 could contain over 100 million barrels of reserves. If commercial production is established by Rockhopper, it would be the opening of a new petroleum province which would include the South Falkland and the Malvinas basins. Another boom could be in the making with all of the political tension between the United Kingdom and Argentina that implies.
This says the discovery is much deeper:-
"Rockhopper Exploration discovered crude oil at its Sea Lion prospect at a depth of 2,744 meters."
That is a very different kettle of fish!