27 Jun 2018 07:00
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
27 June 2018
SOLO OIL PLC
("Solo" or the "Company")
Production Flow Test Operations Commence
at Horse Hill-1, PEDL137, Weald Basin, UK
Solo Oil plc (LSE AIM: SOLO) is pleased to announce that it has been informed by Horse Hill Developments Ltd ("HHDL"), the operator of the Horse Hill-1 ("HH-1") Kimmeridge Limestone 3 ("KL3"), KL4 and Portland oil discovery, that planned flow testing operations of HH-1 have commenced. All key equipment necessary to carry out a 150-day long-term extended flow test campaign at HH-1 is now on site. The Company holds a 9.75% beneficial interest in licence PEDL137 containing the HH-1 oil discovery.
Following final equipment set-up and the subsequent removal of three temporary suspension plugs in the HH-1 wellbore, flow will first be re-established from the Portland sandstone oil pool. Testing of each of the KL4 and KL3 oil pools will follow completion of the Portland test sequence.
Neil Ritson, Solo's Chairman, commented:
"We are extremely pleased to see that, following receipt of all regulatory approvals, HHDL has moved quickly to mobilise the necessary equipment and is now due to start the extended well tests in the immediate future. These tests, aimed at establishing commerciality are a critical part of the pre-development phase and we remain enthusiastic about the potential outcome for our investors."
Extended Well Test ("EWT") Overview
As the 2016 short flow test campaign established commercially viable initial flow rates for each of the Portland, KL4 and KL3 zones, the 2018 EWT's prime goal is to confirm that the wellbore is connected to a commercially viable oil volume within one or more of the three zones.
The long term reservoir performance data is also expected to provide the necessary data to enable, for the first time, Petroleum Resources Management System compliant Kimmeridge and Portland reserve figures to be estimated at Horse Hill.
Each test sequence will include a short, optimised rate test, together with a sequence of "choked back" (i.e. reduced) steady-state flow periods necessary to obtain the data required to determine the connected oil volume within each zone. A series of associated long pressure build up tests are also planned. Oil produced from the EWT will be sold on the "spot" oil market and any revenues will be utilised to offset overall testing costs.
In a move to further minimise environmental impact, the EWT will utilise a new type of clean-burning enclosed flare, a UK onshore industry first. The flare, utilising technology from UK landfill sites, was developed jointly between Landfill Systems, PW Well Test and UKOG, and is regarded as the best available and preferred technology by the Environment Agency.
Qualified Person's Statement:
The information contained in this announcement has been reviewed and approved by Neil Ritson, Chairman and Director for Solo Oil plc, who has over 40 years of relevant experience in the oil industry. Mr. Ritson is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), an Active Member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London (BGS).
For further information:
Solo Oil plc Neil Ritson / Dan Maling | +44 (0) 20 7440 0642 |
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Beaumont Cornish Limited Nominated Adviser Roland Cornish / Rosalind Abrahams | +44 (0) 20 7628 3396 |
Shore Capital Broker Jerry Keen
Buchanan (PR) Ben Romney / Chris Judd / Henry Wilson |
+44 (0) 20 7408 4090
+44 (0) 20 7466 5000 |
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.
Glossary:
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 |
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 |
oil field | an accumulation, pool or group of pools of oil in the subsurface. An oil field consists of a reservoir in a shape that will trap hydrocarbons and that is covered by an impermeable or sealing rock |
pump stroke capacity | in a rod pump the product of the rod cross-sectional area, maximum distance between the top and bottom of the rod stroke movement and the pump stroking speed |
recoverable volumes or resources | those quantities of petroleum (oil in this case) estimated, as of a given date, to be potentially recoverable from known accumulations |
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. |
Notes to Editors:
Solo Oil plc (Solo), is a natural resources investment company with a diverse portfolio of onshore assets, principally in Europe and Africa. The company seeks to deliver returns through early stage investment in promising projects and uses management's own sector expertise to assist in strategic asset development. Solo's portfolio currently includes extensive interests in the prolific Ruvuma Basin in Tanzania, the Horse Hill oil discovery in the Weald Basin, Helium One Limited, the Tanzanian helium exploration company, and Kiliwani North, a natural gas producing project in Tanzania.