Desire Petroleum shares leap over Falklands strike
SHARES in Desire Petroleum yesterday soared after the explorer said it had struck oil in the Falkland Islands and was testing to see if the find was commercially viable.
The firm’s stock closed up 26 per cent at 132.25p. News of this find comes after rival Rockhoppers also said it had found oil there earlier this year.
Desire chairman Stephen Phipps hinted that Desire will step up its discovery activities there. Phipps said: “This discovery combined with Rockhoppers’ Sea Lion discovery confirms our belief that the eastern flank play fairway in the North Falkland Basin is highly prospective and that further oil fields will be discovered in this area.”
The discovery could ignite tensions between Argentina and the UK over the islands, located in the South Atlantic Ocean. The UK successfully repelled an Argentinian invasion in 1982, and the islands have remained under British control ever since.