Update - Broadford Bridge-1

RNS Number : 1664L

UK Oil & Gas Investments PLC

14 July 2017

 

14 July 2017

UK Oil & Gas Investments PLC

("UKOG" or the "Company")

UK Oil and Gas Authority Grants Approval for Extensive Flow Test Programme

Broadford Bridge-1 Exploration Well, Weald Basin, UK

UK Oil & Gas Investments PLC (London AIM and ISDX: UKOG) announces that the Oil and Gas Authority ("OGA") has granted final consent for the Company's forthcoming extended flow test programme at its 100% owned Broadford Bridge-1 ("BB-1") oil exploration well. As previously reported, given the multiple positive indications of oil-filled fractures throughout a vertical Kimmeridge section of more than 1100 vertical ft, the planned flow test programme has now been substantially increased. The programme will now test around 900 feet of naturally-fractured Kimmeridge section over multiple zones and is designed to establish if oil can flow at commercial rates and in commercial quantities from BB-1.

A  comprehensive electric logging and fracture-imaging programme is now underway, the final two logging runs of which are scheduled to be run at the weekend. The Company will provide an update on preliminary log evaluation results in due course.

Flow-testing will follow directly after the completion of electric logging and the setting of 7-inch steel casing.

About BB-1

BB-1, an exploration step-out, is located near Billingshurst, West Sussex, within the 300 km² PEDL234 licence, in which the Company has a 100% interest via its ownership of the licence's operator, Kimmeridge Oil & Gas Limited ("KOGL").

As previously reported, in the Company's opinion, the multiple positive indications of mobile light oil observed throughout the entire naturally fractured Kimmeridge KL1-KL4 limestone and shale target section is supportive that a significant continuous oil deposit, with a vertical extent in excess of 1100 feet has been demonstrated at BB-1. The uppermost two units of this zone, KL4 and KL3, flowed oil at a stable aggregate rate of 1365 barrels per day in the HH-1 discovery near Gatwick Airport.

This continuous oil deposit therefore likely underlies the entire PEDL234 licence and a significant area of the wider Weald Basin, including the Horse Hill-1 Kimmeridge oil discovery some 27 km to the north east. The Company has the largest licence holding in the Weald Basin and within the prospective area of the Kimmeridge play.

Stephen Sanderson, UKOG's Executive Chairman, commented:

"I am confident that the logging and testing results will add further weight to the "proof of concept" that BB-1 lies within a regionally extensive continuous Kimmeridge oil deposit. The thickness and vertical extent of this deposit would be of national significance.

More importantly, perhaps, the expanded testing programme will also determine whether BB-1 itself is commercially viable and provides the basis for the Company's first 100% owned Kimmeridge oil production site."

Qualified Person's Statement

Stephen Sanderson, UKOG's Executive Chairman, who has over 35 years of relevant experience in the oil industry, has approved the information contained in this announcement. Mr Sanderson is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London and is an active member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

For further information, please contact:

UK Oil & Gas Investments PLC

Stephen Sanderson / Kiran Morzaria                                     Tel: [phone] 

WH Ireland (Nominated Adviser and Broker)

James Joyce / James Bavister                                                   Tel: [phone]

Cenkos Securities PLC (Joint Broker)

Nick Tulloch / Neil McDonald                                                   Tel: [phone]

Square 1 Consulting (Public Relations)

Brian Alexander / David Bick                                                    Tel: [phone]

 Glossary:

casing	heavy gauge steel tubing designed to line the wall of a well. The casing provides a safe controlled space in which the drill pipe and bit can operate in isolation from conditions in overlying rock units. The steel tubing is bonded to the surrounding rock by impermeable concrete, known as "cement"
core or coring	a drilling technique that involves using a doughnut-shaped drilling bit to capture or "cut" a continuous cylinder-shaped core of undamaged in-situ rock. The core is captured in a steel pipe or "core barrel" above the bit. Core is normally cut in 30 feet lengths, or multiples of 30 feet, and normally with a diameter of 3.5 or 4 inches. Core is taken in petroleum reservoir rocks for detailed laboratory analyses of petrophysical and geomechanical parameters
continuous oil deposit or resource deposit	a petroleum accumulation that is pervasive throughout a large area, which is not significantly affected by hydrodynamic influences (i.e. the buoyancy of oil in water) and is not trapped by structural or stratigraphic geological conditions. The deposit, in contrast to conventional accumulations, has therefore not accumulated by the migration of petroleum over medium to long distances. The petroleum in such deposits is found within, or immediately adjacent or close to, the pore spaces where the petroleum is generated, i.e. those pore spaces lying within petroleum source rocks containing organic rich compounds (kerogen) that, when heated over geological time, transform into petroleum. These accumulations are generally associated with organic-rich shales such as the Kimmeridge Clay Formation. Such accumulations do not generally contain significant volumes of free, mobile formation water and therefore have no observable hydrocarbon-water contacts. The extent of the accumulation is generally defined by the limit of where burial depths have been sufficient to transform organic matter within the petroleum source rock unit into petroleum.
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 which measure the electrical properties of the rock and fluids in and surrounding the wellbore to determine the petrophysical and geological properties of the rock in its in-situ state. The logging equipment is lowered into the borehole on a steel cable through which a wire conveys data to be recorded at surface. The logging at BB-1 also includes tools which record 3-dimensional images and ultrasound scans of the rock designed to map and characterise natural fractures
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
lost circulation zone (LCZ)	a zone of highly porous and permeable rock or voids directly intersecting the wellbore into which drilling fluid can escape. Commonly LCZs occur in extensive open fracture networks, voids or vugs within limestones and highly porous and permeable sandstones
naturally fractured reservoir	a fractured reservoir contains open and usually connected cracks or fissures within the rock matrix; fractures can enhance permeability of rocks greatly by connecting pore-spaces together; naturally fractured reservoirs have been created over geological time by nature, not man-made via hydraulic fracturing
shale	a fissile rock that is formed by the consolidation of clay, mud, or silt particles, and that has a finely stratified or laminated structure. Certain shales, such as those of the Kimmeridge Clay, often contain a significant proportion of organic material, which when subject to increasing temperature and pressure over geological time transform into petroleum (known as petroleum "source rocks")
step-out well	a well specifically designed to determine the lateral extent of a discovered hydrocarbon accumulation or play
wet gas	natural gas, predominantly consisting of methane (C1), ethane (C2) and propane (C3) but also containing the longer molecular chain natural gases butane and iso-butane (C4), pentane and iso-pentane (C5). The C4 and C5 gases are created during oil-generation within a petroleum source rock unit when oil is thermally cracked. At Horse Hill these natural gases lie in solution within the oil in the KL3 and KL4 Kimmeridge Limestone reservoirs (i.e. solution or associated gas and not as a separate free-gas phase).

UKOG Licence Interests

The Company has interests in the following ten UK licences:

Asset	Licence	UKOG's Interest	Licence Holder	Operator	Area (km2)	Status
Avington 1	PEDL070	5%	UKOG (GB) Limited	IGas Energy Plc	18.3	Field in stable production
Baxters Copse 2	PEDL233	50%	UKOG Weald Limited	IGas Energy Plc	89.6	Appraisal/development well planned; licence extended to 2018
Broadford Bridge 3	PEDL234	100%	Kimmeridge Oil & Gas Limited 4	Kimmeridge Oil & Gas Limited 4	300.0	BB-1 drilling underway
Holmwood 3	PEDL143	30%	UKOG	Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc	91.8	Holmwood-1 exploration well planned in 2017
Horndean 1	PL211	10%	UKOG (GB) Limited	IGas Energy Plc	27.3	Field in stable production
Horse Hill 5	PEDL137	31.2%	Horse Hill Developments Ltd ⁶	Horse Hill Developments Ltd ⁶	99.3	Submitted planning application for long term production tests and drilling of two wells
Horse Hill 5	PEDL246	31.2%	Horse Hill Developments Ltd⁶	Horse Hill Developments Ltd ⁶	43.6	As above
Isle of Wight (Offshore) 3	P1916	100%	UKOG Solent Limited	UKOG Solent Limited	46.7	Preparing drilling planning submission
Isle of Wight (Onshore) 2, 3	PEDL331	65%	UKOG	TBA	200.0	Preparing drilling planning submission
Markwells Wood 2	PEDL126	100%	UKOG (GB) Limited	UKOG (GB) Limited	11.2	Submitted planning application for appraisal and field development

Notes:

1. Oil field currently in production.

2. Oil discovery pending development and/or appraisal drilling.

3. Exploration asset with drillable prospects and leads. Contains the extension of the Godley Bridge Portland gas discovery and the site of the forthcoming Broadford Bridge-1 well.

4. UKOG has a 100% interest in Kimmeridge Oil & Gas Limited, which has a 100% interest in PEDL234.

5. Oil discovery with recently completed flow testing.

6. UKOG has a direct 48% interest in HHDL, which has a 65% interest in PEDL137 and PEDL246.

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.

 

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