Recent Exploration
The most recent drilling campaign ran from March 2015 until premature termination of the rig contract in February 2016, utilising the semi-submersible rig Eirik Raude. Premier Oil, who took over operatorship of the Sea Lion discovery, drilled two wells in the North Falkland Basin (Zebedee and Isobel Deep), both of which were oil discoveries. They later drilled the Isobel/Elaine prospect to confirm the extent of the Isobel discovery.
Noble Energy and their partners Falkland Oil and Gas and Edison plugged and abandoned the Humpback well in the Falkland Plateau Basin after encountering oil in non-commercial quantities.
The penultimate drilling campaign finished in 2012, please see the Exploration History section for a reprisal of the 2010-12 drilling campaign.
Initial engineering and commercial scoping studies have been conducted by Borders and Southern Petroleum on the Darwin gas-condensate discovery in the South Falkland Basin. They aim to demonstrate that the 200 million barrel discovery is commercially viable by proving the resource estimates through appraisal drilling and well testing allied to a future exploration drilling programme in the basin.
Four new 3D seismic surveys covering parts of the Falkland Plateau Basin and the South Falkland Basin have been undertaken since 2012.
Licence holdings continue to evolve as a result of various company farm-ins to existing licences and due to statutory scheduled relinquishments.
The Falkland Islands Government notes that Navitas Petroleum Development and Production Ltd and Rockhopper Exploration Plc have taken their Final Investment Decisions to invest in the Development Programme for the Northern Area of the Sea Lion Field.
A number of reports were considered and approved by Executive Council during October 2025 in relation to offshore minerals, and associated issues.
The reports covered a range of matters including clarification of tax treatment for various project costs, establishing the key principles for petroleum valuation methodology, provision of security for investors involved with Project Sea Lion and matters relating to access to land required to support Project Sea Lion.
Executive Council also approved the development and production programme, under the model clauses of the extant production licences, for phases 1 and 2 of the Northern Development Area of the Sea Lion Field.
The condition precedent set out by Executive Council has now been met and therefore the approvals previously made have gone live.