Update on Horse Hill, Weald Basin, UK

RNS Number : 7167Z

Solo Oil Plc

19 December 2017

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Embargoed until 7 am                                               19 December 2017

SOLO OIL PLC

("Solo" or the "Company")

Update Horse Hill, Weald Basin, UK

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, today notes that Horse Hill Development Limited ("HHDL"), the operator of the Horse Hill oil discovery in the Weald Basin where Solo holds a 6.5% working interest, has released an update on the plans for further development.   

HHDL's release, as set out by UK Oil and Gas Investments plc, is as follows:

Highlights:

·      150-day production flow-test and new drilling programme set to commence in late winter 2017/18

·      Programme aims to confirm commerciality of Portland and Kimmeridge oil discoveries and gear-up for first permanent oil production targeted for early 2019.

·      Drilling of HH-2 appraisal well as future producer to directly follow flow testing programme

·      Permanent production consent application underway, submission to SCC expected in spring 2018

·      Swift and successful eviction of protesters completed at Horse Hill site on 02 December

UK Oil & Gas Investments PLC (London AIM: UKOG) announces that it has been advised by Horse Hill Developments Ltd ("HHDL"), the operator of the Horse Hill-1 ("HH-1") oil discovery, in which the Company holds a 32.435% interest, that key contracts and the requisite funding commitments from all participants are in place to undertake the production flow testing and drilling campaign approved by Surrey County Council ("SCC") in October 2017. The 2018 programme is planned to commence directly upon the discharge of SCC's pre-commencement planning conditions, expected by the end of winter 2017/18. Environment Agency approval for the full programme was granted in September 2017.

Horse Hill Oil Discovery

The HH-1 Portland sandstone and Kimmeridge Limestone oil discoveries lie within onshore Weald Basin licences PEDL137 and PEDL246 covering an area of 55 square miles (143 km²) north of Gatwick Airport. As previously reported on 21 March 2016, HH-1 flow tested at a significant commercial aggregate stable dry oil rate of 1,688 barrels of oil per day ("bopd") from the Portland, Kimmeridge Limestone 3 ("KL3") and Kimmeridge Limestone 4 ("KL4") reservoir horizons.

2018 Horse Hill Flow Test Programme

Following a short period of civil works to upgrade site facilities, a 150-day production testing programme focused upon the Portland, KL3 and KL4 reservoirs will commence. As commercially viable initial flow rates were established by the 2016 flow tests, the 2018 testing programme's goal is to confirm that HH-1's reservoirs are each connected to a commercially viable oil volume, thus enabling a declaration of commerciality to be made.

The Portland, KL3 and KL4 flow tests, each planned for around 30-40 days duration, will consist of a sequence of stabilised steady state flow and shut in periods to establish the oil in place ("OIP") directly connected to the well. A short maximum flow-rate test will also be included for each reservoir. If time permits, a further short-term test of a deeper untested Kimmeridge reservoir may be undertaken.

Testing will commence with the Portland reservoir, which in the Company's opinion, given the 323 bopd stable pumped rate achieved in 2016 and the 32 million barrels most likely OIP calculated by Xodus in 2017, is a strong candidate for commercial viability. Subject to a successful test, a Portland commercial declaration is expected to be made by mid-2018. A Kimmeridge commerciality declaration would follow programme completion and analysis of reservoir engineering data.

2018 Horse Hill Drilling Programme

Subject to a successful testing outcome in the Kimmeridge and Portland, the HH-2 well is planned as a future Portland producer, with an expected spud towards the end of summer 2018. Drilling plans include optionality to deepen HH-2 into the Kimmeridge to gather core and image log data, together with a possible northwards deviation to access the adjacent oil bearing Collendean Farm fault block's significant Portland OIP.

The HH-1z Kimmeridge side-track spud is now planned for 2019 following construction of a Kimmeridge reservoir model utilising HH-1 Kimmeridge production data, reservoir data from the Company's 100% owned Broadford Bridge-1 & 1z Kimmeridge discovery and any future HH-2 Kimmeridge core.

Production Planning Application

To achieve its goal of stable, long-term Horse Hill oil production by spring 2019, HHDL now plans to submit a further production planning application to SCC in late spring 2018. This application will seek consent to produce oil initially from HH-1 & 1z, and HH-2, together with further production wells in a second contingent drilling phase.

Horse Hill Eviction

On Saturday 2 December 2017, a 42-person team, including High Court bailiffs and the UK's pre-eminent specialist protester removal contractor, successfully removed around 20 activists who had illegally occupied part of the Horse Hill site since Thursday 30 November 2017. These activists intimidated, jostled and verbally abused HHDL's security staff and caused criminal damage during their illegal occupation.

An increased security presence will now remain on the site until completion of the 2018 programme.

The Company is rigorously pursuing all available legal means to seek recourse for this and any future events that prevent or obstruct its right to conduct its lawful business.

For further information:

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

Glossary:

core or coring	a drilling technique to capture or "cut" a continuous cylinder-shaped core of undamaged in-situ rock
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
flow test	a test period where hydrocarbons are flowed to surface through a test separator. Key measured parameters are oil and gas flow rates, downhole pressure and surface pressure. The overall objective is to identify the well's capacity to produce oil at a commercial flow rate and to recover oil in commercial quantities or volumes
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, being made of the remains of calcareous planktonic algae called coccoliths. The Kimmeridge Limestones are comprised of fine grained coccoliths, fine grained calcium carbonate mud, clay minerals, together with dark grey organic matter
oil in place (OIP)	the quantity of oil or petroleum that is estimated to exist originally in naturally occurring accumulations before any extraction or production
sandstone	a clastic sedimentary rock whose grains are predominantly sand-sized. The term is commonly used to describe a consolidated and cemented rock made predominantly of quartz grains
side-track	re-entry of a well from the well's surface location with drilling equipment for deviating from the existing well bore to achieve production or well data from an alternative zone or bottom hole location

 

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