(Adds statement from Ocean Rig UDW)
LONDON, June 4 (Reuters) - Energy companies active in theFalkland Islands have leased a rig for their 2015 drillingprogramme, paving the way for oil and gas exploration tocontinue next year in the region contested by Britain andArgentina.
London-listed Premier Oil said it had contracted therig to drill a minimum of four wells in the North Falkland Basinwith partner Rockhopper.
Cyprus-based Ocean Rig UDW said it had signed aleasing contract for its Eirik Raude drilling rig to be deployedin waters off the Falklands for around 260 days.
Premier Oil is sharing the rig with Noble Energy,which will deploy the equipment to drill another two wellselsewhere in the South Atlantic archipelago.
Tensions between Britain and Argentina remain high over thesovereignty of the Falklands, over which the two countries wentto war in 1982, as Buenos Aires attempts to block London-listedfirms from drilling for oil and gas in the area.
Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd also said it wasparticipating in the 2015 drilling programme with Premier Oiland Noble Energy.
The rig, which is expected to arrive in the Falklandsbetween February and May next year, will first drill at thePremier Oil-operated Zebedee and Isobel/Elaine prospects in theNorth Falkland Basin.
Noble Energy obtained the third and fourth drilling slotsthrough a rig-sharing agreement with Premier Oil before theequipment is expected to return to the North Falklands to drillanother two wells.
These are likely to be the Jayne East and Chatham/Sea LionWest Flank wells, Rockhopper said.
Premier Oil has been searching for a partner for its SeaLion project, a field that is expected to start producing oil inlate 2018 and will require an estimated $5.2 billion ininvestment.
Premier Oil also said on Wednesday it had discovered moregas at its Tuna Block in offshore Indonesia, increasing thesite's gross resource estimate to 100 million barrels of oilequivalent.
Premier Oil shares were trading down 0.9 percent at 1431GMT, while Falkland Oil and Gas shares had gained 2.9 percentand Rockhopper shares 0.3 percent by the same time. (Reporting by Karolin Schaps; Additional reporting by BalazsKoranyi in Oslo; Editing by Jane Baird and Dale Hudson)