Appraisal drilling about to begin at West Newton, says Reabold

(Sharecast News) - Reabold Resources announced on Monday that Rathlin Energy UK, operator of the PEDL 183 license onshore UK, has signed a rig contract for the drilling of the West Newton appraisal well, expected to spud in April.The AIM-traded firm has a 37% equity interest in Rathlin, which has a 67% interest in PEDL 183 and the West Newton project.It said the well spud, expected in April, would be designed to test two high-impact targets, adding that a gross contingent resource of 189 billion cubic feet - or 31.5 million barrels of oil equivalent - had been assigned to the West Newton A-1 gas discovery.The gas appraisal target had a 72% chance of success, and a gross net present value at a 10% discount (NPV10) of $247m.Reabold also pointed to the additional upside from the testing of the reef flank Cadeby formation oil prospect, which had a gross prospective resource of 79.1 million barrels of oil equivalent, a 24% chance of success and a gross NPV10 of $850m.Planning permission for the appraisal well was in place, with the target drill ready."Reabold is delighted that the appraisal drilling of West Newton has progressed so quickly since we made our investment to fund the well," said chief executive officer Sachin Oza."Both the scale and location of the resource in East Yorkshire make it a highly strategic asset."We look forward to the drilling and testing of this well in the coming weeks."