Oil: boom in the North Sea, bust in the Falkands

A fresh oil discovery in the North Sea has sent share prices in three British explorers soaring, in a marked contrast to Desire's fortunes in the Falklands where news of a fourth unsuccessful drilling attempt has hit the share price to the tune of 26 per cent.
 
Last year Premier, Encore and Nautical made what was hailed as the best North Sea find in a decade with their joint venture in the Catcher field, which is estimated to hold 80m barrels of recoverable reserves.
 
Their new find, the Varadero field, may contain about half as much as Catcher, with 30m-50m barrels, but it has increased optimism that further discoveries could be made in the North Sea.
 
Meanwhile in the Falklands, Desire have reported their second failed drilling attempt in a week. The explorer said that the Dawn well had failed to encounter enough oil or gas to be commercial, days after reporting the same about the adjacent Jacinta well.
 
Desirer has only enough funds left to drill one last well as part of its current drilling campaign.
 
Read a full report at the Daily Telegraph. ·