Shares in oil exploration firm Desire Petroleum have been boosted again after it was given the go-ahead by regulators to drill a second well off the Falkland Islands.
Malvern-based Desire (DES) told the markets that regulatory authorities and its partner Rockhopper Exploration (RKH) had given speedy approvals to move to the a new drilling site on its prospect called Rachel.
The move paid instant dividends on the markets, as shares in Desire rose 4.25p, to 124p, by 8.30am after the announcement.
After seeing share prices fall dramatically on the back of bad news, they have now increased by 30 per cent in a week.
The news comes just a week after Desire was hit with mechanical problems on its first Rachel well, which meant that it was unable to carry out the necessary tests to establish how successful the well had been.
So far, the company, its investors and partners in the region know only that Desire was encouraged enough by what it saw to consider drilling another well in more or less the same place.
The company said, in a statement: “The Rachel North well will be drilled vertically with an estimated total depth of 3,050 metres. The bottom hole location will be 1.7 kilometres from the Rachel sidetrack 14/15-1Z bottom hole location. Drilling operations are expected to last around 35 days.”
