11 Jun 2018 07:00
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11 June 2018
Highlands Natural Resources plc ('Highlands' or 'the Company')
Operational Update for Exploration of Kansas Nitrogen Reserves
Highlands, the London-listed natural resource company, is pleased to update shareholders on its exploration for nitrogen reserves in Kansas. Drilling operations will commence today.
Following discussions between the Company and the State of Kansas Corporation Commission Conservation Division (which regulates oil and gas) regarding the programme since it acquired the lease on 31 May 2018, Highlands will first re-enter and re-complete an existing wellbore within its landholding.
This will be beneficial to Highlands in multiple ways, providing the Company with valuable data which can be used in its future exploration at a significantly reduced cost. It will also de-risk the campaign from a safety perspective given the high pressures experienced in the area.
On completion of this first phase, and subject to the results, the Company will then move on to drilling an additional new test well nearby. The combination of these two inexpensive tests are designed to establish the future development requirements for the project.
Summary of Operations Plan
1. Highlands will operate on a previously plugged wellbore, Barret 1-14, which is expected to be more time and cost efficient, given the high flow pressures experienced in the area.
2. Highlands will re-enter, wash down and re-complete this well with equipment capable of controlling high pressures.
3. The re-completed well will perforate the Cedar Hills formation at a depth of 2,150 feet.
4. Highlands will conduct flow rate and gas composition tests on the perforated formation.
5. After completing the first well, the rig will move 150 feet to a second drilling location, and drill a new well, named Charlie-1, to a depth of 800 feet to test the Carlile shale for reservoir characterization.
Robert Price, Highlands' Chairman and CEO, said: "Our initial discussions with the State of Kansas for this exciting new Highlands project have gone very well, with the State recommending that we use the previously plugged wellbore. This will deliver significant cost and time savings for Highlands, enabling us to put in place two test wells instead of one. We expect to encounter high pressure formations, so the existing well bore will assist with our health and safety planning and provide valuable information when we subsequently move on to drill our second well."
***ENDS***
For further information:
Highlands Natural Resources plc
Robert Price +1 (0) 303 322 1066
Cantor Fitzgerald Europe
Nick Tulloch +44 (0) 20 7894 7000
David Porter
Redleaf Communications
Elisabeth Cowell
Fiona Norman +44 (0) 20 3757 6880
Notes to Editors
Highlands (LSE: HNR.L) is a London-listed natural resources company with a portfolio of high-potential oil, gas and helium assets and technologies. The Company's core projects include:
· West Denver Shale Project: A 2,490-acre shale oil and gas project in the Denver Julesburg Basin where the Company aims to utilize third-party financing to advance the project.
· East Denver Niobrara: a horizontal oil and gas project targeting the Niobrara shale formation in a well-studied area of the Denver Julesburg Basin. Highlands retains a 7.5% carried interest in the project, which is fully funded and operated by Highlands' partners. East Denver is currently producing from two wells, with six additional wells currently drilling, and up to 24 wells can be drilled in total.
· DT Ultravert: a re-fracking and parent well protection technology with four patents allowed and additional patents pending in the United States and internationally. Highlands is advancing commercial conversations with a range of oil and gas operators and service providers to commercialize DT Ultravert technology, potentially supported by its own 800-acre low-cost nitrogen exploration project in Kansas.
Helios Two: a 220,000+ acre helium and natural gas prospect in SE Montana with drilling and assessment operations ongoing.