Technical update on Helium One's Projects

RNS Number : 5307E

Solo Oil Plc

09 May 2017

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Embargoed until 7 am                                                                       9 May 2017

SOLO OIL PLC

("Solo" or the "Company")

Technical Update on Helium One's Projects, Tanzania

Solo Oil plc (AIM: SOLO), the natural resources investment company focused on acquiring and developing a diverse global non-operated portfolio of strategic oil and gas assets is pleased to announce recent technical progress by Helium One, the pure play helium explorer in Tanzania in which Solo holds 10% interest and an option to increase that interest by a further 10%.    

Highlights

-      Acquisition of a 16,000 line kilometre Airborne Gravity Gradiometry (AGG) and magnetic survey over the Rukwa and Balangida licence areas is now complete

-      Planning of a second phase Rukwa soil gas and groundwater geochemistry survey is in progress for field work to start in the third quarter of 2017

-      This second phase follows on from the 2016 Rukwa soil gas geochemistry survey which confirmed widespread helium micro-seepage characteristic of subsurface trapped accumulations

-      Dan Maling, Solo's Finance Director, has joined the Helium One Board of Directors as Solo's non-executive representative

Helium One have now completed the acquisition of extensive airborne geophysical data with the preliminary grids expected to be received later in May 2017.  In parallel with this and to complement that data, after successful analysis of the soil micro-seepage survey completed in 2016, a further more detailed soil geochemistry survey is expected to commence in the third quarter of 2017.  So far Helium One has collected and analysed almost 1,500 soil samples for helium, CO₂, hydrogen, nitrogen and hydrocarbons in the most advanced project in the Rukwa licence area. The work programme being undertaken in 2017 is intended to identify drillable prospects as soon as practical with drilling planned for 2018.

Neil Ritson, Solo's Chairman commented:

"Helium One's licence areas, and especially Rukwa, represent one of the most exciting new potential sources of commercial helium in the world today.  The most recent results from the field continue to be very encouraging and the integration of all the data will move us much closer to drilling a subsurface trap.  Solo's team is working closely with Helium One and providing our expertise in developing the timeline and plan for technical activity ahead of drilling which is currently scheduled for next year."

Helium is a naturally occurring elemental gas which, owing to its unique properties, is critical to the function of superconductors which are used in several forms of scientific and medical scanners, such as MRI; it also has extensive uses in computing and communications infrastructure manufacture, industrial testing and transportation. Global demand for helium is growing at a rate that is outstripping supply, which presents a significant pricing opportunity for future producers.

For further information:

Solo Oil plc Neil Ritson / Dan Maling	[phone]
Beaumont Cornish Limited Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker Roland Cornish	[phone]
Shore Capital Joint Broker Jerry Keen Beaufort Securities Joint Broker Jon Belliss Buchanan (PR) Ben Romney / Chris Judd	[phone] [phone] [phone]

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 geology, resource estimation and the oil and gas 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).

Notes to Editors

Helium is used in hi-tech applications such as MRI scanners (currently the largest application for helium), semiconductor and optical fibre manufacturing, computer hard-drives, in the nuclear and space industries, and for lifting, such as Lockheed Martin's LMH1 hybrid airship. With around 57% market share, the US is the dominant supplier.  However, the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which manages the world's largest helium reserve, is auctioning off an increasing percentage of the reserve annually until it falls to 3.0 bcf or until 30 September 2021, when commercial sales will cease. After that point the BLM will only supply US government users, creating a supply shortage which will force industrial consumers to look for other sources of helium. This transformation of the industry has resulted in recent bulk helium prices as high as US$200 per thousand cubic feet ("mcf"), and a domestic USA helium supply that is increasingly leveraged to primary CO₂ producing fields.

Further information on helium and the Rukwa project can be found at Helium One's website at www.helium-one.com and at Solo's website www.solooil.co.uk.

Glossary:

AGG	Airborne Gravity Gradiometry
bcf	billion cubic feet
gravity gradiometry	is the measurement of variations in the acceleration due to gravity. The gravity gradient is the spatial rate of change of gravitational acceleration
mcf	thousand cubic feet
MRI	magnetic resonance imaging is a technique that uses a magnetic field and radio waves to create detailed images of the organs and tissues within your body

 

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