LONDON (Alliance News) - The companies behind the Horse Hill project in southern England Wednesday said oil has continued to flow from the well following the flowtest launched earlier this week, as the partners began to reap the rewards by shipping their first oil to a nearby refinery.
The string of AIM-listed companies involved in the project released the initial results from the flowtest on the Horse Hill-1 well near Gatwick Airport on Tuesday, averaging a production rate of 463 barrels of oil per day over a seven-hour period.
On Wednesday, the companies said the production rate dipped slightly to a rate of 456 barrels of oil per day on the second day of testing, which was conducted over a nine-and-a-half hour period. However, the companies used a smaller choke on the second day than the first, lowering production but also stabilising the flow.
Importantly, the first day of flowtesting yielded a mix of 99% oil and 1% water but the second day of testing announced Wednesday showed 100% oil with no water.
The sweet oil that has flowed naturally to surface so far has come from an 80-foot zone within the Lower Kimmeridge limestone interval, which lies around 900 metres below the surface.
Once completed, the companies will focus on testing the shallower Upper Kimmeridge limestone and the Portland sandstone zones.
Horse Hill Developments Ltd owns a 65% stake in the Horse Hill prospect and the remaining 35% of the prospect is held by Magellan Petroleum Corp.
UK Oil and Gas Investments holds a 30% stake in Horse Hill Developments, whilst Doriemus PLC, Stellar Resources PLC, Solo Oil PLC and Alba Mineral Resources PLC each hold 10% stakes in Horse Hill Developments, with Evocutis PLC holding a 2% stake and the balance is owned by Angus Energy, in which UK Oil & Gas has a 6% stake.
"The well continues to produce high quality oil at good rates. Although further work is required to be done, we are now beginning to establish the commerciality of the project earlier than originally anticipated. The first two tankers full with 348 barrels of oil were sent to be refined at noon yesterday," said Stephen Sanderson, chairman of UK Oil & Gas.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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