The illegitimate government of the Malvina Islands has extended until December 2026 all oil exploration and production licenses held by Rockhopper Exploration PLC since 2010.
As the company itself says , “it has interests in hydrocarbon basins located to the north and south of the Malvinas,” including Sea Lion , the most important oil field north of the archipelago usurped by Great Britain since 1833; which has guaranteed reserves of around 791 million barrels of crude oil.
In a statement released yesterday, Rockhopper said this extension of the licence life was achieved “following discussions” with the Malvina Islands government, “so that the licences will now be valid until 31 December 2026.”
This is not the first time that the Kelper government has extended Rockhopper 's licences since it granted the first ones in 2010. The last time was in July 2022 for two years, until November 2024.
At the time, the extension was justified by the fact that Rockhopper had changed partners: Premier Oil, acquired by Chrysaor and transformed into Harbour , withdrew, leaving its place to the Israeli oil company Navitas , which retained the right to two-thirds of the profits obtained when production starts.
According to the latest update of the subsoil studies in Sea Lion, carried out by the specialist firm Netherland Sewell & Associates (NSAI), this deposit would contain 791 million barrels of extractable oil.
According to the plan drawn up by NSAI, Rockhopper and Navitas must make a final decision on whether to proceed with the development or not before the end of the year. If they decide to continue, the first oil would be extracted at the end of 2026.
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