Rockhopper Exploration plc Drilling update - 14/20-2 (Isobel-2 Re-drill) (3720L)

TIDMRKH TIDMFOGL

RNS Number : 3720L

Rockhopper Exploration plc

11 January 2016

11 January 2016

Rockhopper Exploration plc

("Rockhopper" or the "Company")

Drilling update - 14/20-2 (Isobel-2 Re-drill)

Oil Discovery

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the oil and gas exploration and production company with interests in the North Falkland Basin and Greater Mediterranean region, is pleased to provide the following update on exploration well 14/20-2, Isobel 2 Re-drill (the "Well").

Highlights

   --     Net oil pay of 27m 
   --     No Oil Water Contact or gas encountered 
   --     Oil discovery confirmed at Isobel Deep 
   --     Additional oil bearing F3 reservoirs 

The Well is located on licence PL004a in which Rockhopper has a 24% working interest which will increase to 64% following completion of the merger with Falkland Oil & Gas (anticipated to occur on the 18 January 2016).

The Company can confirm that the Isobel Deep reservoir has been successfully re-drilled and that the Well reached a total depth of 3014m below sea level, in a location some 4km from the Isobel Deep discovery well. The location of the Well was also in a position that intercepted the edges of a number of additional fans within the Isobel / Elaine complex.

The Company is delighted to announce that the Well encountered a total of five oil bearing fan packages of the F3 system, with net pay of 27m recorded within the Isobel Deep, Isobel and Emily reservoirs.

Additionally, whilst sand with oil shows was recorded in the Elaine South and Irene fans, reservoir quality was low (as had been anticipated) given the nature of the location at the very edge of the fan bodies. The Company anticipates that better reservoir can be found in the main bodies of those fans.

The Well did not encounter any gas nor did it penetrate an Oil Water Contact within any of the sands in this location, where the Isobel Deep reservoir is 350m downdip from the discovery well. The results indicate that the total oil column established by this second well is likely to be in excess of 480m.

Whilst the data acquired is still to be fully evaluated and integrated, the initial view of the Company is that the results of this Well indicate that the Isobel / Elaine complex is highly likely to contain a commercially viable quantity of recoverable oil.

The Well will now be plugged and abandoned as planned before moving to the final well of the programme, Chatham.

Samuel Moody, CEO of Rockhopper Exploration, commented:

"Proving oil this far down dip in the Isobel Deep reservoir, in addition to confirming oil bearing sands at a location so close to the edge of the various other fan bodies, is an outstanding result and hugely increases the likelihood that the Isobel / Elaine complex can become a third phase of development in the North Falkland Basin.

Having retained the sub-surface lead for exploration once again I would like to congratulate our team on their unparalleled success rate of 10 out of 12 wells in licences PL004 and PL032 which brings us closer to proving this to be the billion barrel basin that we believe it could be.

The success is of course even more pleasing following the announced merger with Falkland Oil & Gas which will shortly complete seeing our interest in the licence significantly increase to 64 percent."

Enquiries

Rockhopper Exploration plc

Tel: (via Vigo Communications) - 020 7016 9571

Sam Moody - Chief Executive

Fiona MacAulay - Chief Operating Officer

Stewart MacDonald - Chief Financial Officer

Canaccord Genuity Limited (NOMAD and Joint Broker)

Tel: [phone]

Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor

Liberum Capital (Joint Broker)

Tel: [phone]

Clayton Bush

Vigo Communications

Tel: [phone]

Peter Reilly

Patrick d'Ancona

This announcement has been approved by Rockhopper's geological staff who include Fiona MacAulay (Chief Operating Officer), who is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London and a Member of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain and American Association of Petroleum Geologists with over 25 years of experience in petroleum exploration and management, and who is the qualified person as defined in the Guidance Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies issued by the London Stock Exchange in respect of AIM companies. In compiling its resource estimates, Rockhopper has used the definitions and guidelines as set forth in the 2007 Petroleum Resources Management System approved by the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

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January 11, 2016 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)