LONDON (Alliance News) - The oil companies behind the Horse Hill project in the Weald Basin in the UK on Monday said drilling has intersected the Portland Sandstone and encountered oil shows at the Horse Hill-1 well.
The Horse Hill-1 well well is located on the northern side of the Weald Basin near Gatwick airport.
There are six companies with a stake in Horse Hill Developments Ltd, a special purpose vehicle which owns a 65% participating interest in the Horse Hill licence. UK Oil & Gas Investments PLC owns a 20% stake in the vehicle, with Doriemus PLC, Stellar Resources PLC and Solo Oil PLC each holding 10% stakes and Regency Mines PLC and Alba Mineral Resources PLC owning 5% stakes.
The oil shows, which are reservoirs with evidence of oil, were found between 2,100 feet to 2,140 feet measured depth, and drilling is continuing downward toward other primary and secondary targets.
Sandstone drill cuttings recovered from the well have been analysed and are confirmed by the operator to have "a dull yellow fluorescence with a slow diffuse light blue cut with a trace of residual oil ring", the companies said in separate statements.
One of the natural properties of minerals and fluids is emitting light, a characteristic of finding hydrocarbons.
Horse Hill-1 will be drilled to 8,658 feet total depth in order to test for Triassic-aged formations, which are expected to contain gas, said the companies.
"The well will need to be electronically logged at the next casing point to understand the significance of these oil shows in the Portland, and we look forward to reporting further drilling updates as the well progresses," said Doriemus Chairman Donald Strang.
At the close of Friday, Alba Mineral shares were down 8.7% to 1.05 pence per share. UK Oil and Gas shares were down 0.6% to 1.47 pence per share, whilst Doriemus shares were down 1% to 0.198. Regency Mine shares were down 0.7% to 0.402 pence per share, whilst Stellar Resource shares remained flat at the close of Friday at 0.900 pence per share, as did Solo Oil shares at 0.915 pence per share.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
