LONDON (Alliance News) - The companies behind the Horse Hill project in the northern part of the Weald Basin in the UK Tuesday moved to clarify press comments surrounding the Horse Hill licenses and their expiry dates.
The Horse Hill project, which recently announced a potential major oil find near Gatwick Airport, is operated by Horse Hill Developments Ltd, which owns a 65% stake in the prospect and the remaining 35% of the prospect is held by Magellan Petroleum Corp.
UK Oil & 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.
Earlier in the week, there was press speculation surrounding the expiry dates of the Horse Hill licenses which aroused concerns that the potential 100 billion barrel oil find - of which between 3.0 to 15.0 billion barrels are though to be recoverable - could be at risk, as the license is due to expire unless the Horse Hill companies could prove the oil could flow. Media to report on this included the Telegraph.
In separate statements on Tuesday, the companies said the two Horse Hill licenses, PEDL 137 and PEDL 246, are due to expire on September 30, 2015 and June 30, 2019, respectively, adding that the operator, Horse Hill Developments has already applied for a one-year extension to the PEDL 137 license, host to the potentially large oil find, through the UK Oil and Gas Authority.
In addition, the companies said a flow test will be carried out on the Horse Hill-1 well on PEDL 137 in 2015, which will aim to define how much oil could be recovered, with applications already submitted to authorities. Planning approval for a flow test on Horse Hill-1 is already in place, they said, as this was included in the original Surrey County Council planning approval.
"Subject to the results of the flow test being successful, the operator would seek, in conjunction with the Oil and Gas Authority and other regulators, to move the PEDL137 licence into the production period, via submission of a Field Development Plan to Oil and Gas Authority," it said in a statement.
If the license is moved into the production period, it could result in the companies securing a 20-year production license.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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