FALKLANDS oil explorer Desire Petroleum, based in Mathon, has plugged and abandoned its initial well in the region while it evaluates the results.

The firm drilled down to 3,667 metres to the north of the South Atlantic islands and discovered hydrocarbon - the principal constituent of petroleum and natural gas - which will now be analysed.

Desire’s chairman Stephen Phipps said the Liz well, located in the North Falklands Basin, had shown “promising results”.

He added: “Gas has been discovered at two levels and the prospectivity of the basin has been greatly enhanced. We now intend to carry out technical work to assess and analyse the information that we have obtained from this well and we are very much looking forward to resuming the drilling campaign later in the year.”

Liz was the first well in a multi-well campaign by Desire Petroleum. Fellow British oil company Rockhopper Exploration will now get their chance to begin drilling on the Ocean Guardian rig before Desire can resume in about three-months.

Desire’s share price fell to 44p yesterday (Thursday), from a year high of 130p in January.