The Times16 Nov 2018 06:21
Shares in the company behind the “Gatwick Gusher” oil find fell by more than a tenth as investors appeared underwhelmed by an announcement that it had produced $1 million of crude from the site. UK Oil & Gas Investments (UKOG) hit the headlines in 2015 when it said that drilling at Horse Hill, Surrey, suggested that there were 100 billion barrels of oil under southern England. Yesterday it revealed that so far it had produced a more modest total of 13,920 barrels during tests this year, but insisted that this “firmly establishes Horse Hill as a commercially viable oilfield”. The oil was taken by tanker to BP’s Hamble oil terminal and UK Oil and Gas said that gross oil sales revenues were now $1.1 million. Stephen Sanderson, its chief executive, said: “These ‘hard fact’ production numbers, together with the million-dollar sales, mark the most significant milestone in the company’s short history. The company will spare no effort to push Horse Hill towards full time production in late 2019 [or] early 2020