Drilling Update, Horse Hill-1, Weald Basin UK

RNS Number : 8463S

Solo Oil Plc

29 September 2014

 



For Immediate Release

29 September 2014

Solo Oil plc

("Solo" or the "Company")

Drilling Update, Horse Hill-1, Weald Basin UK

Solo Oil plc (AIM: SOLO) today advises that the Horse Hill-1 well has now been drilled to the second casing point at a depth of 1,795 feet measured depth ("MD"), and the setting and cementing a 13 3/8-inch steel casing is now underway.  The bottom of the well is currently located in the upper part of the Jurassic and the operator reports that the well has encountered the expected mud gas up to C3 (propane) and mineral fluorescence just above current well depth.

Based on observed geological analysis and mud logging from rock cuttings circulated out of the hole indicate that geological markers in the well are slightly shallower than initially expected based on seismic and the nearby Collendean-1 well drilled by Esso in 1964.  As a consequence the second casing point has been revised up from 1,865 feet MD to reflect this change.

The Horse Hill-1 well is located on the northern side of UK Weald Basin near Gatwick Airport and is planned to drill to a Total Depth ("TD") of 8,680 feet measured depth ("MD") to test a number of conventional oil and gas targets. The primary oil reservoir targets in this well lie in the Jurassic Portland Sandstone at about 2,200 feet true vertical depth below sea level ("TVD ss") and the Corallian Sandstone at about 3,440 feet TVD ss. There are also a number of secondary oil targets in the Jurassic aged formations, including the Great Oolite Limestone, estimated to be at 4,530 feet TVD ss. 

After setting the 13 3/8-inch casing the well will be drilled in 12 ½-inch hole to a depth of approximately 5,900 feet MD where open-hole electric logs will be acquired to evaluate the anticipated Jurassic oil reservoirs before setting a 9 5/8-inch casing.   An 8 ½-inch hole will then be drilled to TD in order to test for Triassic aged formations which are expected to contain gas.

Solo owns a 10% direct interest in Horse Hill Developments Ltd ("HHDL").  HHDL is a special purpose company that owns a 65% participating interest and operatorship of onshore licences PEDL137 and the adjacent licence PEDL 246 in the UK Weald Basin.  The participants in the Horse Hill-1 well are HHDL with a 65% working interest and Magellan with a 35% interest.

Neil Ritson, Solo Executive Director, commented:

"The well is running smoothly and the geological formations and the other indicators that have been encountered so far are encouraging for the presence of a trap within a proven hydrocarbon system.  We await further drilling results with great interest."

Competent Person's statement:

The information contained in this document has been reviewed and approved by Neil Ritson, Executive Director for Solo Oil Plc.  Mr Ritson is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, a Fellow of the Geological Society, an Active Member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and has over 35 years relevant experience in the oil industry.

Glossary:

up to C3 (propane)          - hydrocarbon gas liquids from spectrometry showing the presence of C1 (methane), C2  

  (ethane) and C3 (propane)

MD                                         - measured depth

mineral florescence       - light emitted by natural minerals showing, in some circumstances, the presence of

   hydrocarbons

mud gas                               - gases recovered from the drilling fluids (mud)

TD                                           - total depth

TVDss                                    - true vertical depth below sea level

Contacts

Solo Oil plc
David Lenigas	[phone]
Neil Ritson
Beaumont Cornish - Nominated Adviser
Roland Cornish	[phone]
Old Park Lane Capital - Joint Broker Michael Parnes	[phone]
Shore Capital - Joint Broker
Pascal Keane	[phone]
Jerry Keen

 

END

 

 

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