Rockhopper Exploration

Rockhopper was founded in 2004 to explore for oil and gas in the Falkland Islands.

It received a listing on the AIM market in 2005. On 16 April 2010, Rockhopper commenced drilling of its first exploration well, 14/10-B (subsequently renamed 14/10-2) on its Sea Lion prospect using the Ocean Guardian semi-submersible drilling rig. On 6 May 2010 the company announced it had made the first oil discovery in the Falkland Islands in well 14/10-2. An update of the first appraisal drill (well 14/10-4) was released in March 2011 indicating a significant reservoir package with a downhole mini drill stem test flowing oil at better rates than in a September 2010 flow test on well 14/10-2. Confidence in the commerciality of the Sea Lion discovery was increased by this first appraisal.

On 27 June 2011, the company announced that its second Sea Lion appraisal well (14/10-5) flowed at commercially viable rates.

In July 2012, Rockhopper announced that it had entered into a conditional farm out agreement with Premier Oil plc whereby Premier will acquire 60% of Rockhopper's interests in its North Falkland Basin licences in exchange for an upfront cash payment of $231m, a contribution of $722m to Rockhopper's share of the Sea Lion development costs and a net exploration carry of $48m. Rockhopper will be fully funded on its share of the Sea Lion development through the contribution to costs and standby financing provided by Premier. First oil from Sea Lion had been expected in 2020. However, the project faced delays and was again reinvigorated with the rise in energy prices in 2022.

In 2023, Rockhopper (working with Tel Aviv-listed Navitas Petroleum) said it had been presented with a new development plan for its Sea Lion project, that aimed to cut costs, and proceed in phases. It was stated that: "If realized, the new plan — with a total price tag of $2.2 billion — could lead to 80,000 barrels per day of production (up to 100,000 b/d at peak) via a leased floating production, storage and offloading unit". A final investment decision was targeted for early 2024.

In December 2025, after some delay, it was indicated that Rockhopper Exploration and Navitas Petroleum had taken the final investment decisions for the development of Phase 1 of the Sea Lion Field and sanctioned the project. Phase 1, aims to produce 170 mmbbls at a peak production of approximately 50,000 bbls/d. The first oil from Phase 1 was planned for 2028. Argentina immediately rejected these plans with the Argentine foreign ministry stating that Argentina would: “deepen its action plan to adopt all additional measures, in accordance with international law, that it deems necessary to safeguard its sovereign rights and interests.”