Sea Lion runs into setback as financing delays Falkland Islands’ $1.4B oil project

Israel’s Navitas Petroleum has postpone a closing investment determination (FID) for its massive Sea Lion oil project within the North Falkland Basin (NFB), pushing it to the 2d half of of the 365 days for Allotment 1 to place a financing conception in characteristic.

The closing investment determination for the Sea Lion oil project within the North Falkland Basin (NFB) used to be bumped to 2025 final 365 days following a price hike to $1.4 billion for Allotment 1. Navitas’ companion, Rockhopper Exploration, has confirmed the signing of a lead technical and lending monetary institution mandate, with the financing conception now in conjunction with senior monetary institution debt.

Whereas the agency reported certain initial feedback from doubtless companies of capital to the financing, the timing for the FID has changed and is now anticipated in H2 2025 to permit for the monetary institution to whole due diligence.

Positioned roughly 220 kilometers to the north of the Falkland Islands in Block 14/10, the Sea Lion self-discipline within the production license areas PL032 and PL004b encapsulates the proposed trends of phases 1 and 2, that are envisioned to be developed by a single floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) with two drilling campaigns.

After the project’s self-discipline constructing conception (FDP) used to be as much as the moment to consist of an initial constructing stage, focusing on 312 million barrels of oil (mmbbls), the FDP for the project used to be despatched for approval. The licensed notorious 2C property within the general North Falkland Basin bought a take from 712 mmbbls to 791 mmbbls.

The Northern Place phases 1 and 2 will doubtless be developed the usage of a redeployed and upgraded FPSO that is anticipated to be secured upon FID, whereas the Northern Place Allotment 3 and the Central Place phases 1 and 2 would require a substantially larger replacement FPSO to be identified and secured.

Sam Moody, Chief Executive of Rockhopper Exploration, commented: “We proceed to work with operator Navitas in transferring the Sea Lion project towards FID. With work on financing for the procedure beginning to gain tempo and persevered growth on the technical aspect, we now stay unsleeping for providing the market with extra updates.”

Navitas Petroleum, which sees Sea Lion as “the following colossal component,” is the operator of the project with a 65% working curiosity whereas Rockhopper holds the closing 35% stake. Cloth upside, in conjunction with Isobel-Elaine, a found oil self-discipline to the south of Sea Lion, used to be additionally identified and would possibly per chance possibly silent be developed below future phases.