Last checked at 18 Oct 2017 15:45
UK Oil & Gas Investments PLC
("UKOG" or the "Company")
Planning Permission Granted for Further Flow Testing and Drilling
Horse Hill Oil Discovery, Weald Basin, UK
UK Oil & Gas Investments PLC (London AIM and ISDX: UKOG) is pleased to announce that it has been informed by Horse Hill Developments Ltd ("HHDL"), the operator of Horse Hill licences PEDL137 and PEDL246, containing the Horse Hill-1 ("HH-1") oil discovery, that on 18 October 2017 Surrey County Council's Planning and Regulatory Committee granted planning permission to enable HHDL to carry out extended flow tests at HH-1, plus drill and test both a sidetrack from the existing HH-1 well and new borehole HH-2. The committee voted overwhelmingly in favour of HHDL's planning application.
Along with the Environment Agency's approval of all necessary permits, HHDL can now proceed with its Horse Hill appraisal programme as soon as the similar extended flow testing programme has been completed at our Broadford Bridge well site in West Sussex.
HH-1 Oil Discovery (UKOG interest 32.435%)
The HH-1 Kimmeridge Limestone and Portland oil discovery well is located within onshore exploration Licence PEDL137, on the northern side of the Weald Basin, 3 km north of Gatwick Airport. As previously reported in February and March 2016, two naturally-fractured limestone members within the Kimmeridge section, known as KL3 and KL4, flowed dry, 40-degree API oil, at an aggregate stabilised natural flow rate of 1,365 barrels per day ("bopd") with no clear indication of depletion.
The overlying Portland flowed dry, 35-degree API gravity oil at a stable pumped rate of 323 bopd. The Portland oil was produced at the rod-pump's maximum achievable rate and thus flow was constrained by the pump's mechanical capacity.
Stephen Sanderson, UKOG's Executive Chairman, commented:
"This is welcome news for the planned Horse Hill Portland and Kimmeridge appraisal programmes, both of which are key steps towards our goal of delivering stable first oil production by early 2019. Horse Hill operations are scheduled to follow the current Broadford Bridge-1z flow testing and will build upon and benefit from the many learnings and insights gained to date. I look forward to HHDL's return to Horse Hill."
Qualified Person's Statement
Stephen Sanderson, UKOG's Executive Chairman, who has over 35 years of relevant experience in the oil industry, has approved the information contained in this announcement. Mr Sanderson is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London and is an active member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
For further information, please contact:
UK Oil & Gas Investments PLC
Stephen Sanderson / Kiran Morzaria Tel: 01483 243450
WH Ireland (Nominated Adviser and Broker)
James Joyce / James Bavister Tel: 020 7220 1666
Cenkos Securities PLC (Joint Broker)
Nick Tulloch / Neil McDonald Tel: 0131 220 6939
Square 1 Consulting (Public Relations)
Brian Alexander / David Bick Tel: 01483 243450
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 |
naturally fractured reservoir | a fractured reservoir contains open and usually connected cracks or fissures within the rock matrix; fractures can enhance permeability of rocks greatly by connecting pore-spaces together; naturally fractured reservoirs have been created over geological time by nature, not man-made via hydraulic fracturing |
sidetrack | re-entry of a well from the well's surface location with drilling equipment for the purpose of deviating from the existing well bore to achieve production or well data from an alternative zone or bottom hole location, or to remedy an engineering problem encountered in the existing well bore |
UKOG Licence Interests
The Company has interests in the following ten UK licences:
Asset | Licence | UKOG's Interest | Licence Holder | Operator | Area (km2) | Status |
Avington 1 | PEDL070 | 5% | UKOG (GB) Limited | IGas Energy Plc | 18.3 | Field in stable production |
Baxters Copse 2 | PEDL233 | 50% | UKOG Weald Limited | IGas Energy Plc | 89.6 | Appraisal/development well planned; licence extended to 2018 |
Broadford Bridge 3 | PEDL234 | 100% | Kimmeridge Oil & Gas Limited 4 | Kimmeridge Oil & Gas Limited 4 | 300.0 | BB-1&1z drilling completed, testing underway |
Holmwood 3 | PEDL143 | 30% | UKOG | Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc | 91.8 | Holmwood-1 exploration well planned in 2017/18 |
Horndean 1 | PL211 | 10% | UKOG (GB) Limited | IGas Energy Plc | 27.3 | Field in stable production |
Horse Hill 5 | PEDL137 | 32.435% | Horse Hill Developments Ltd ⁶ | Horse Hill Developments Ltd ⁶ | 99.3 | Submitted planning application for long term production tests and drilling of two wells |
Horse Hill 5 | PEDL246 | 32.435% | Horse Hill Developments Ltd⁶ | Horse Hill Developments Ltd ⁶ | 43.6 | As above |
Isle of Wight (Offshore) 3 | P1916 | 100% | UKOG Solent Limited | UKOG Solent Limited | 46.7 | Preparing drilling planning submission |
Isle of Wight (Onshore) 2, 3 | PEDL331 | 65% | UKOG | TBA | 200.0 | Preparing drilling planning submission |
Markwells Wood 2 | PEDL126 | 100% | UKOG (GB) Limited | UKOG (GB) Limited | 11.2 | Submitted planning application for appraisal and field development |
Notes:
1. Oil field currently in production.
2. Oil discovery pending development and/or appraisal drilling.
3. Exploration asset with drillable prospects and leads. Contains the extension of the Godley Bridge Portland gas discovery and the site of the Broadford Bridge-1 and 1z well.
4. UKOG has a 100% interest in Kimmeridge Oil & Gas Limited, which has a 100% interest in PEDL234.
5. Oil discovery with recently completed flow testing.
6. UKOG has a direct 49.9% interest in HHDL, which has a 65% interest in PEDL137 and PEDL246.
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.