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Cyn,
I wrote to my MP after the last Annual Report was published, because as a Surrey resident my potential rise in Council and/or Borough Taxes to cover the P&A of HH and BB was more than my shares in UKOG are now worth.
This is their response;
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Thank you for your email regarding the financial viability of UK Oil and Gas PLC, which operates the Horse Hill site.
Although I have noted your concerns, this goes beyond my purview as a Member of Parliament as the specific administration of licenses is managed by the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). The role of an MP is instead to scrutinise, propose and vote on legislation as it pertains to the nation as a whole. In this context, I will forward your specific concerns onto the DESNZ and ask them to outline what steps they are taking to ensure the sustainability of the sector as a whole and to avoid taxpayers having to cover de-commissioning costs. I will also underscore the specific case you have raised, and will be in touch when I receive a response from the Department.
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I also wrote to the NTSA, but they have yet to reply.
SS is already disgrace to my Industry and I absolutely do not want us all to be tarred with the same brush if he folds UKOG, leaving the UK taxpayer with the costs of plugging the Wells and restoring the sites.
PBoo,
You didn't answer my question.
Not surprised.
As for your assertion that no oil was produced, are you saying that Angus lied in their RNS (a criminal offence, BTW) on testing, which not only stated the flow rates from two separate tests, but also gave an API of the oil that was produced?
The simple fact is that oil was produced and the eyes either chose not to report it so they could try and make cash from dealing in shares (Adrian has history on that..), or they simply missed it.
BP,
Pretty much what I was thinking when I read their RNS's at the time.
The one thing that did surprise me was that they apparently didn't use a tracer in either the drilling fluid or the kill brine.
Maybe because I've spent most of my time doing Exploration Wells, but I've always insisted on using a tracer - preferably an Iodide tracer.
Easy to use, cheap and with an Iodide tracer, (unlike others) there is zero chance of any confusion as to what is formation fluid and what is fluid that you've used during drilling / testing.
You know how he's always accusing those that disagree with him as being shorters?
Maybe he's a shorter, since he always claims to make a profit, even though the share price has fallen below his buy price......
Vernonya,
Why do you keep posting nonsense scare stories about Hydrogen?
Hydrogen fuelled vehicles have been used on UK (and other Countries) roads for many years with none of the problems you keep claiming, so to state it's "far to volatile to trust it to unsupervised distribution and use" is complete rubbish.
As far back as the mid 1980's, there were some BP stations that had Hydrogen fuel pumps in them - they fell out of favour because the Govt decided not to fund Hydrogen as an alternative technology.
Just in the UK, there are Hydrogen fuelled cars, buses, lorries and trains being used.
Hydrogen will become a major source of power long before the time frame you think - the current rush towards pure EV's is not sustainable at any part of the supply chain.
Iceland is already a long way down that road, moving towards a Hydrogen fuelled vehicle society using their abundance of geothermal power.
In addition to that, it's currently the only proven technology that will allow excess renewable energy from wind and PV to be converted into a storage medium that can be used when renewables cannot meet the demand.
Your assertion that leaking Hydrogen will cause lots of explosions ignores basic physics.
Hydrogen is much lighter than air, and any leak will dissipate upwards extraordinarily quickly.
That's why the fuel tanks of H2 fuelled cars are designed to instantly release the entire contents of the tank in the event of an accident - the possibility of fire is minute as it dissipates upwards so quickly.
Any fire crews turning up at an accident scene won't have to worry about an explosion or fire occurring with an H2 fuelled vehicle. Not the case if a petrol or diesel tank has ruptured and fuel is pooled on the ground.
With petrol or diesel the fumes are heavier than air and do not dissipate nearly as quickly, so are far more likely to cause an explosion in the circumstances you describe.
That's why there have been cases where someone drops a match and a neighbours garage half a mile up the hill explodes.
Do some basic research on Hydrogen and Hydrogen vehicles before posting your rubbish claims again.
Cyn/Delta,
What really bothers me about that is that they have only allowed £1.451 Million for decommissioning HH, BB and their share in Avington & Horndean.
HH itself will take all of that and more. Two Wells to P&A, decom & cleaning of all surface kit before disposal and then site restoration - I don't think they'd see much change from £2.5 Million for that.
But I see it didn't stop SS from taking an 8% pay rise. I suppose we should be grateful it wasn't more....
Incidentally, I've not been able to find the disposal cost/bbl for HH - is it in there and I've just missed it?
Ohhh, trying to be clever there, PBoo?
Waiting for someone to point out that the £1 Million quoted isn't actually cash in the bank (like the waste of skin likes to claim) and then you'll act all innocent and claim that that's not what you said?
$80.23 / 1.26 = £63.67/bbl
The last available production cost/bbl quoted by UKOG was £32/bbl
The production cost will have increased due to inflation, but until UKOG publish the (overdue) accounts, we won't know what it is now.
So £63.67 - £32 = £31.67/bbl.
£31.67 x 44 x 365 = £508,620.20
Of course, that's also calculated using the heroic assumption that production will remain at 44 BOPD, which ignores the decline curve that HH is on.
So just the Directors annual remuneration of £496k quoted in the last Financials (no doubt also increased due to inflation - we'll find out when the next results are announced...) will leave nobody in doubt that UKOG are, in reality, running at a substantial loss.
Could be a number of reasons.
Seismic coverage (lines) will always go some distance past the edge of any structure that is thought to be present, to get rid of 'edge effects' on the data over the area of interest - which may take the end of some lines outside the licence area.
Another potential reason is that if there is a Well already reasonably close to the licence boundary, a line may be extended to that Well so it can be used as a calibration point for subsequent interpretation.
As Penguins pointed out, it's not uncommon for a potential structure to straddle licences. Depending upon how far the structure extends into the next licence, the holder of that licence may make a contribution to the costs in return for access to the data.
The rules governing any desire to shoot seismic outside the licence will vary from Country to Country and also if it's Onshore or Offshore.
Haven't been involved for many years (in any case, I was only doing site surveys to be able to move a Rig into location). It used to be that the general protocol in the UK (for the first two cases) was for the adjacent licence holder to be informed as a matter of courtesy, but their permission was not actually needed.
For the last case, it would be a matter of negotiations between the two Licence Groups involved.
Why do you keep posting the same scaremongering nonsense about Hydrogen powered vehicles?
They have been safely used on our roads for years. Volvo & Mercedes have trucks using them, they are being trailled on buses and trains in Scotland.
The safety issues were sorted out long ago and in many respects they are safer than an ICE or EV, as the H2 is vented away within a second if the tank is ruptured.
I remember!!!
I bought RR at 79p, have sold enough to cover my original investment and still hold a bunch of shares, as I think there's still a lot more mileage in RR, plus they'll surely get a bounce when they start paying dividends again.
Was BB left with the test / production string in place, or was it temporarily suspended?
If the former, they'd be better in getting a Crane in to pull the string, run a Cement Bond Log and then temporarily suspend again while they agree a P&A program with the NTSA and get all the necessary kit lined up.
IIRC they had problems with the cement job on the 7", so they'll need to show zonal isolation there and also behind the 9 5/8" to ensure protection of any near surface aquifer.
If they can do that to the NTSA's satisfaction, they might get away without having to mobilse a Rig for the final P&A - in which case they should be able to do that all and restore the site with change to spare from £1 Million.
If they have to mobilse a Rig and mill out a window to be able to "restore the cap rock" with cement, then they'll be looking at between £1.5 Million and £1.75 Million.
Ninetails,
Odd that some are questioning why someone who works in the oil industry would be on a bulletin board discussing an oil company.
It's almost as if they don't want people who know what they are talking about to be on here, so the Ramptastic crew can't get away with making outrageous statements to try and manufacture a P&D to catch the unwary...
Ninetails,
I've always found it difficult to explain exactly what life is like on a Rig / Platform - usually I see the eyes go blank and change the subject.
Years ago, I was usually working with JU's in the Southern North Sea and in the early days we didn't even have the luxury of calling home - unless you used the SSB through Humber Radio - knowing that every radio Operator on a Rig/ship was also listening to your conversation.
Mind you, this was back in the day when the Drilling Superintendent's word was law, which meant that if there hadn't been a Helicopter or Supply Boat heading to the Rig for several days, I would call up the chopper company for an 'urgent freight' flight for mail, papers, milk, fresh fruit, veggies and a box of Mars Bars (if I was feeling really generous!).
Can't do that now with everyone and his Dog in the Head Office looking over your shoulder.
It's even got more difficult to do that sort of thing in remote land locations, with the advent of V-Sat comms.
But I have underslung a Cow to the Rig in the past - pity the Helicopter crew forgot to hang a static discharge wire off the harness, so the Cow took the full brunt of the discharge.
It didn't have much longer to live anyway.....