Rockhopper Exploration

The company was incorporated in England on October 5, 2004, originally as Crude Ltd, was renamed Rockhopper Exploration Limited in January 2005, and later became the public limited company Rockhopper Exploration plc. It has operated in Falkland Islands waters since 2004 and was admitted to the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in 2005, when its principal asset was oil and gas exploration acreage in the North Falkland Basin.⁠[1][1][1][2][2][3]

In May 2010, Rockhopper, as operator, discovered the Sea Lion field in licence PL032 in the North Falkland Basin; the field extends into licence PL004. From 2010 to 2012 the company evaluated, drilled, and appraised its acreage as 100% operator, completing its appraisal campaign in January 2012 and discovering Sea Lion and its satellite fields.⁠[2][2][4][3][2]

In 2012 Rockhopper farmed out part of its interest in the Sea Lion field to Premier Oil plc. The Falkland Islands Government assessed capital gains tax on the farm-out, creating a long-running tax dispute that was resolved only on December 9, 2025, when the two sides signed a final settlement agreement under which the company pays the government a total of £30 million (undiscounted) in instalments; the settlement also covers any tax liability arising from the 2022 farm-out to Navitas.⁠[2][2][5][2]

In 2014 Rockhopper acquired Mediterranean Oil & Gas Plc and thereafter held assets in Italy, including the Ombrina Mare oil field project. In February 2016 Italy’s Ministry of Economic Development decided not to award the company a production concession covering the Ombrina Mare field.⁠[6][7][8][8]

On January 18, 2016, Rockhopper completed an all-share merger with Falkland Oil and Gas Limited (FOGL), incorporated in the Falkland Islands, through a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement under Falklands law, issuing about 159.7 million consideration shares and bringing its issued share capital to about 456.3 million ordinary shares. Since 2017 it has been operator of licences PL011, PL012, and PL014 in the South and East Falkland Basin with a 100% interest in each, and describes itself as the largest acreage holder in the Falkland Islands.⁠[9][9][9][4][4]

On April 18, 2016, Rockhopper announced amended terms to acquire the entire issued share capital of Beach Energy’s Beach Petroleum (Egypt) Pty Limited for about $11.9 million in cash, gaining a 22% interest in the Abu Sennan concession and a 25% interest in the El Qa’a Plain concession in Egypt.⁠[10][10]

On March 23, 2017, Rockhopper commenced international arbitration against the Republic of Italy over the Ombrina Mare project on the grounds that Italy had breached the Energy Charter Treaty, seeking damages based on lost profits, with the costs funded on a non-recourse basis by a specialist litigation funder.⁠[8][8][8][8]

On January 7, 2020, Rockhopper and Premier Oil Exploration and Production Limited signed detailed heads of terms with Navitas Petroleum for Navitas to farm in for 30% of the Sea Lion project, aligning interests in licences PL032, PL004b, and PL004c at Premier 40% (operator), Rockhopper 30%, and Navitas 30%; Rockhopper’s Phase 1 development costs would be met through carry and loans from Premier and Navitas, and it could receive up to $48 million in contingent consideration.⁠[11][11][11][11]

On December 8, 2021, Rockhopper, Harbour Energy, and Navitas signed new heads of terms: Harbour would exit its Falklands licence interests, and Rockhopper and Navitas would align their interests across all Falklands petroleum licences at 35% and 65%; Navitas would fund Rockhopper’s share of Sea Lion costs before a final investment decision through a loan at 8% annual interest and, after a positive decision, provide an interest-free loan covering two-thirds of its share of development costs, with the loans repaid from 85% of Rockhopper’s working-interest free cash flow. CEO Samuel Moody described it as the start of a new chapter for the potential development of Sea Lion.⁠[3][3][3][3][3]

On August 24, 2022, an ICSID arbitration panel unanimously held that Italy had breached its obligations under the Energy Charter Treaty and awarded Rockhopper €190 million in compensation plus interest at EURIBOR + 4%, compounded annually from January 29, 2016.⁠[6][6][6]

On September 23, 2022, Rockhopper announced the completion of the transaction under which Harbour exited and Navitas Petroleum entered the North Falkland Basin through its UK subsidiary: Navitas held a 65% interest in and operatorship of all of Rockhopper’s North Falkland Basin licences (PL003, PL004, PL005, PL032, and PL033), Rockhopper retained 35%, and Rockhopper continued to hold and operate South Falkland Basin licences PL011, PL012, and PL014 at 100%.⁠[12][12][12]

On October 14, 2024, Rockhopper signed a share purchase agreement with Zodiac Energy to sell Rockhopper Civita Limited, which holds all of its Italian assets and liabilities except the Ombrina Mare arbitration; the deal requires approval from the Falkland Islands Government and the Italian regulator, the former has been received, and as of June 30, 2026, Italian approval had not been obtained. On October 18, 2024, the Falkland Islands Government agreed to extend all of the company’s North and South Falkland Basin petroleum production licences to December 31, 2026.⁠[13][13][13][14]

Italy applied to ICSID on October 28, 2022, to annul the arbitration award. On June 3, 2025, Rockhopper announced that Italy had succeeded in having the award annulled and that it would claim under an insurance policy taken out in October 2024, which guaranteed it a total of no less than €31 million; as of June 2026 the company had received the €31 million insurance payment and, in September 2025, had filed a new request for arbitration with a new funder bearing the costs.⁠[15][15][15][16][16]

On December 10, 2025, Rockhopper’s board took a final investment decision on Phase 1 of the Sea Lion field, and operator Navitas Petroleum Development and Production Limited did the same; the Falkland Islands Government approved the field development and production programme for Phases 1 and 2 of the Northern Development Area, and the licences moved into a 35-year exploitation phase. The project’s funding requirement is $1.8 billion to first oil and $2.1 billion to project completion, including $1.0 billion of senior debt ($350 million of it Rockhopper’s); thanks to the Navitas loans, Rockhopper’s net equity requirement is about $112 million. Phase 1 targets 170 million barrels (59.5 million net to Rockhopper) at peak production of about 50,000 barrels per day.⁠[5][5][5][5][5][5][5][5]

CEO Sam Moody said the sanctioning of Sea Lion was a major milestone for the company and all its stakeholders and the culmination of more than 20 years of work. On December 22, 2025, the project reached financial close, and the company’s previously announced placing completed, issuing about 201.1 million new shares at 53 pence each and raising about $142 million.⁠[5][17][17][17]

In 2025 Rockhopper recorded a loss attributable to equity shareholders of the parent of $39.681 million (compared with a restated profit of $47.612 million in 2024); cash and term deposits at December 31, 2025, were $179 million, up from $20.9 million a year earlier. According to an updated independent technical report, 2P reserves net to the company were 110 million barrels and 2C resources 211 million barrels; as of October 2026, the operator is targeting first oil in the first quarter of 2028.⁠[2][16][16][16][18]

On August 26, 2026, Rockhopper published an independent Sea Lion evaluation by Netherland, Sewell & Associates (NSAI) as of July 31, 2026: including the Central Development Area that the operator plans to accelerate using the OSX-1 FPSO, the 2P+2C net present value of the company’s 35% interest rose by about $788 million; gross 2P reserves for Phases 1 and 2 of the Northern Development Area were about 314 million barrels, about 110 million net to the company.⁠[19][19][19][19]

On August 27 the company announced a placing of new shares at 70 pence to raise about $180 million, plus an open offer to existing shareholders of up to about $20 million, to fund its pro rata share of the OSX-1 acquisition and preparations for the accelerated Central Development Area; the placing ultimately raised $180 million and the open offer $20 million, which the company said would fund it through mid-2028. On October 7 it agreed to subscribe $44 million from existing cash for shares in a newly formed special purpose vehicle that owns OSX-1, corresponding to its 35% interest.⁠[20][20][20][18][18][18][21][21]

After Argentine President Javier Milei announced tougher sanctions on companies operating around the Falkland Islands without Argentine authorization, on September 4, 2026, Rockhopper issued a “Sea Lion Operator Update” in London reproducing Navitas’s announcement of that day: the partnership operates under valid petroleum licences lawfully granted by the Government of the Falkland Islands, a self-governing UK Overseas Territory, with the full and ongoing support of the UK Government, and recent developments were not expected to have a material effect on Sea Lion development activities or the completion timetable. Resolution 133/2012 of Argentina’s Energy Secretariat had long since declared Rockhopper’s activity clandestine. That day Rockhopper shares fell more than 10% to 69 pence in early trading in London before recovering to about 72.9 pence.⁠[22][23][23][23][22][22]

On September 21, 2026, the Falkland Islands Government announced an initial five-year extension of all existing offshore production licences, with a further two optional years at its discretion, saying the decision had the full support of the UK Government. On October 5, Rockhopper again reproduced an update from Navitas: the Government of Argentina was continuing to impose sanctions on those involved in Sea Lion, and the operator was replacing two breaching contractors and continuing development with the support of the Falkland Islands and UK governments.⁠[24][24][25][25][25]

In its first-half results published on September 30, 2026, Rockhopper said Phase 1 of the Northern Development Area was fully funded, the first FPSO had arrived in Southeast Asia for upgrade work, drilling was expected to begin in early 2027, and the operator was targeting a final investment decision on the Central Development Area in the first half of 2028, with first oil possible in 2030; William Perry joined the board as CFO and Barak Mashraki as a non-executive director. As of October 2026, the company’s CEO is Samuel Moody, its non-executive chair is Simon Thomson, and its registered office is in Salisbury, England.⁠[18][18][18][18][18][18][2][2][1]

Rockhopper Exploration: Official website: https://rockhopperexploration.co.uk/ (opens in a new window).⁠[26]