Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Rockhopper gets partner interest in Malvinas oil

British oil explorer Rockhopper said it had been approached by industry partners looking to co-invest with it in a major $2 billion project to turn the Malvinas Islands into an oil producer.

The company said today that it expected the development of pipelines and a floating production system needed to get oil pumping from its Sea Lion discovery to be funded by a combination of partner financing and debt.

Rockhopper declined to comment on the identity of the industry partners who it said had expressed "initial interest".

"The only way you would see any company active in Argentina going near that (Rockhopper) would be if they received explicit instructions from the Fernandez government to do it," Professor Mark Jones from Rice University said.

Rockhopper said today that it planned to open up an online data room towards the end of 2011 to allow interested parties to learn more.

The company also said that it will acquire a further stake in part of a nearby licence controlled by another UK explorer, Desire Petroleum , as it believes its oil field extends into that licence.

Rockhopper will in return pay for a well to be drilled on the licence.