Rockhopper (LON:RKH) , the oil and gas group working in the North Basin of the Falkland Islands, has delivered another successful appraisal well on its Sea Lion discovery area. The company said this morning that well 14/10-4, which was spud in February, had proved a thick, high quality reservoir package, a substantial oil column and recognition of the first oil-water contact in the licence to date. Rockhopper said it was now highly likely that the Sea Lion discovery would be commercially viable and that the results of the latest well would significantly increase the contingent P90 volume for oil discovery. The company is now preparing to start work on development planning for the Sea Lion discovery. The Rockhopper share price jumped by 33.5% to 289.75p during the morning.

Well 14/10-4 was drilled 2.3 km west-north-west of the 14/10-2 discovery well to a total depth of 2801 metres within the Sea Lion discovery area, and was the first appraisal well on the Sea Lion feature designed to investigate reservoir presence and oil column at a downdip location. In February the company drilled the 14/10-3 exploration well, 8km from the original Sea Lion discovery, which was designed to explore the northern lobe of the Sea Lion fan feature. It proved encouraging but the results of the well are understood to be complex and require lengthy interpretation.

In the latest well, the top Sea Lion reservoir sands were encountered 66m downdip from the 14/10-2 discovery well. A total reservoir package of 107m comprising four main sands was encountered with a net to gross of 76%. Average porosity is 20% and permeability is over 100 millidarcies. Thirty metres of net pay has been encountered in the upper of the four sands, representing the main Sea Lion southern fan. The gross oil column now proven in the main Sea Lion southern fan is 104m. Three metres of net oil pay is present in the lower sands; these thin oil sands are below the water leg of the upper sands indicating at least one additional oil column. The lower fan encountered in 14/10-2 was neither strongly developed nor prognosed at this location, but the thin lower oil sands at 14/10-4 confirm prospectivity for lower fan sequences developed elsewhere downdip.

A mini wireline drill stem test was performed using a dual-packer MDT tool over…

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