Licence awarded in UK 14 onshore licensing round

RNS Number : 4440J

Solo Oil Plc

17 December 2015

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                            17 December 2015

SOLO OIL PLC

("Solo" or the "Company")

Licence Awarded in UK 14^th Onshore Licensing Round

Solo is pleased to announce that it has been informed that the UK Oil and Gas Authority has today offered Solo a licence covering an area of approximately 200 square kilometres covering five part blocks (the "Licence") onshore on the Isle of Wight previously applied for by the Company for as part of the UK 14^th Round.  As previously announced on 29 October 2014 Solo plans to hold a 30% interest in the new licence.

Solo's application was made jointly with UK Oil & Gas Investments PLC ("UKOG") who are leading the joint bidding group. The Licence contains the onshore extension of the undrilled conventional M Prospect and an undeveloped Portland oil discovery at Arreton, as well further undrilled conventional oil prospects.  Substantial potential for oil may also be present within the limestones and shales of the Kimmeridge Clay, Oxford Clay and Lias shale formations.

The Arreton-2 well, drilled in 1976 by British Gas, penetrated a large anticlinal structure and found strong oil shows in the Upper Jurassic Portland reservoir section. A recent petrophysical analysis of the Arreton-2 electric logs by Nutech has calculated a total oil pay of 63 feet within the Portland. A further 127 feet of total oil pay is also calculated in limestones within the underlying Cornbrash and uppermost section of the Great Oolite reservoir formations. A similar, but so far untested, prospect lies to the immediate south of the Arreton discovery.

The Licence award will also enable the drilling of the M Prospect from an onshore location. The M Prospect is located primarily in the contiguous offshore licence P1916 operated by UKOG, but also extends into the Licence.  UKOG announced in March 2015 that the M Prospect contains significant mapped prospective oil in place within the conventional Portland and Triassic sections. Additional Portland and Triassic prospects have also been identified in the Licence on trend with the M Prospect.

The Arreton oil discovery and M prospect are currently the subject of an ongoing volumetric and recoverable resources analysis by Xodus Group Ltd who are preparing a Competent Persons Report.

UKOG, who will be the designated operator of the Licence, will now continue its discussions with the Local Planning Authority and will prepare the necessary regulatory consents to drill both the M Prospect and an appraisal/development well adjacent to the Arreton-2 oil discovery. Plans will also be advanced to acquire additional seismic coverage to further define the Arreton discovery and adjacent prospects.

Neil Ritson, Solo's Chairman Commented:

"The award of this licence represents a further significant step as the Company seeks to broaden its portfolio of UK oil development assets and it provides a combination of a low-risk near-term appraisal and development project, complemented by high potential conventional and tight oil exploration upside for the future."

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 38 years of relevant experience in the energy sector.  Mr. Ritson is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, an Active Member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London.

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
electric logs	tools used within the wellbore to measure the rock and fluid properties of surrounding rock formations
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
oolite	a sedimentary rock formed from ooids, being  spherical grains comprised of concentric layers of calcium carbonate and of diameter 0.25 - 2mm
pay	a reservoir or portion of a reservoir that contains economically producible hydrocarbons. The term derives from the fact that it is capable of "paying" an income. The overall interval in which pay sections occur is the gross pay; the smaller portions of the gross pay that meet local criteria for pay (such as minimum porosity, permeability and hydrocarbon saturation) are net pay
prospect	a project associated with a potential accumulation that is sufficiently well defined to represent a viable drilling target
reservoir	a subsurface rock formation containing an individual natural accumulation of moveable petroleum that is confined by impermeable rock/formations

For further information:

Solo Oil plc Neil Ritson Fergus Jenkins	[phone]
Beaumont Cornish Limited Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker Roland Cornish	[phone]
Shore Capital Joint Broker Pascal Keane Jerry Keen (Corporate Broker) Bell Pottinger                            Public Relations Henry Lerwill Cassiopeia Services LLP Investor Relations Stefania Barbaglio	[phone] [phone] [phone]

 

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