9 Mar 2016 07:00
REGENCY MINES PLC
("Regency" or the "Company")
Further Update on Horse Hill-1 Flow Test
Portland Zone Flows Oil at a Sustained Rate of 168 Barrels Per Day
9 March 2016
Regency Mines PLC announces that Horse Hill Developments Limited ("HHDL") has informed the Company that 37-degree API, light, sweet, dry (99-100% oil) crude has flowed to surface, via rod pumping, at an average stabilised rate of 168 barrels per day over a continuous 9-hour period. The flow is from an 103-ft aggregate perforated zone within the Upper Portland sandstone interval at a depth of approximately 615 metres below ground level. Maximum flow during this test period was restricted by the initial rod pump configuration. The flow test will now continue with a pump configuration designed to permit optimal flow over a longer flow period.
The Horse Hill-1 ("HH-1") well has now produced at a combined average stable rate of over 1,528 bopd from the two Kimmeridge and Upper Portland zones.
Andrew Bell, Regency's Chairman commented: "The well continues to perform above expectations. The results so far compare favourably with the nearest comparator, Brockham. We look forward to the results from the optimised pumping programme."
Background
The HH-1 well is located within onshore exploration Licence PEDL137, on the northern side of the Weald Basin near Gatwick Airport. The exploration drilling phase of the HH-1 discovery well was originally completed at the end of 2014. Regency owns a 5% direct interest in HHDL. HHDL is a special purpose company that owns a 65% participating interest and operatorship of Licence PEDL137 and the adjacent Licence PEDL246 in the UK Weald Basin.
The only commercial Upper Portland oil production in the Weald Basin is from the nearby Brockham field, 8 km to the northwest of HH-1. The Brockham field was discovered by BP in 1987 and flowed 28-degree API oil on an extended well test in 1988, at a maximum stabilised rate on pump of 117 bopd. A subsequent extended well test in 2001, prior to commercial production, produced oil at an average pumped rate of approximately 140 bopd.
Qualified Person's Statement:
The technical information contained in this announcement has, for the purposes of the AIM Guidance Note for Mining, Oil and Gas companies has been reviewed and approved by Jonathan Tidswell-Pretorius, Executive director at HHDL and Chairman of Angus Energy Ltd a UK registered onshore operator who has 15 years of relevant experience in the oil and gas industry. Mr. Tidswell-Pretorius is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and United Kingdom Onshore Oil and Gas (UKOOG) industry bodies.
For further information contact:
Andrew Bell 0207 747 9960 Chairman Regency Mines Plc
Scott Kaintz 0207 747 9960 Executive Director Regency Mines Plc
Roland Cornish/Rosalind Hill Abrahams 0207 628 3396 NOMAD Beaumont Cornish Limited
Jason Robertson 0129 351 7744 Broker Dowgate Capital Stockbrokers Ltd.
Christian Pickel 0203 128 8208 Media Relations MHP Communications
Glossary
choke | Device incorporating a fixed or variable orifice that is used to control fluid flow rate during testing of an exploratory discovery |
degree API | A measure of the density of crude oil as defined by the American Petroleum Institute |
discovery | a discovery is a petroleum accumulation for which one or several exploratory wells have established through testing, sampling and/or logging the existence of a significant quantity of potentially moveable hydrocarbons |
extended flow test | a flow test, as per the permission granted by the Oil and Gas Authority, with an aggregate flow period duration over all zones of greater than 96 hours and up to 90 days maximum. |
flow test | a flow test or well test involves testing a well by flowing hydrocarbons to surface, typically through a test separator. Key measured parameters are oil and gas flow rates, downhole pressure and surface pressure. The overall objective is to identify the well's capacity to produce hydrocarbons at a commercial flow rate |
limestone | a sedimentary rock predominantly composed of calcite (a crystalline mineral form of calcium carbonate) of organic, chemical or detrital origin. Minor amounts of dolomite, chert and clay are common in limestones. Chalk is a form of fine-grained limestone |
sandstone | a clastic sedimentary rock whose grains are predominantly sand-sized. The term is commonly used to imply consolidated sand or a rock made of predominantly quartz sand. |
sweet oil or crude | A type of oil that contains less than 0.42% Sulphur |