Horse Hill-1 Significant Oil Flows

RNS Number : 1439P

Solo Oil Plc

16 February 2016

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, 7:00 am                                                                                    16 February 2016

SOLO OIL PLC

("Solo" or the "Company")

Horse Hill-1 Oil Discovery, Weald Basin, UK

Significant Oil Flows to Surface from Lower Kimmeridge Limestone

Solo today announces that it has been advised by the operator, Horse Hill Developments Limited, that light, 40 degree API, sweet oil has flowed naturally to surface from an 80-foot zone within the Lower Kimmeridge limestone interval at a depth of approximately 900 metres below ground level.

Fluid flow commenced at around 10.00am GMT yesterday at an initial instantaneous rate in excess of 700 barrels per day through a 1-inch choke, in an approximate mix of 50:50 oil to water. The well was then choked back to 32/64-inches resulting in a steady early oil rate in excess of 460 barrels of oil per day over a further seven hour period, in an approximate mixture of 99% oil and less than 1% water.

The Lower Kimmeridge flow period will continue today following an overnight shut-in. Upon completion of testing in this zone, operations will move to the shallower Upper Kimmeridge limestone and Portland Sandstone zones at approximately 840 and 615 metres below ground level, respectively.

The Horse Hill-1 discovery well, in which the original exploration drilling phase was completed at the end of 2014, is located within onshore exploration Licence PEDL137, on the northern side of the Weald Basin near Gatwick Airport.  Solo owns a 6.5% interest in PEDL137.

Neil Ritson, Solo's Chairman commented:

"Early reports from the wellsite are extremely encouraging and certainly exceed our expectations for natural flow from the Kimmeridge limestones.  We look forward to more news from the final test results from the Lower Kimmeridge limestone and the remaining Portland Sandstone tests in due course."

Solo's interest in the Weald Basin:

Solo's interests, comprise licences PEDL137 and PEDL246, are located on the northern side of the Weald Basin of South East England near Gatwick Airport. The HH-1 discovery well is located in PEDL137.  Solo owns a 10% direct interest in Horse Hill Developments Ltd, a special purpose company, that owns a 65% participating interest and is the operator of these licences. The remaining 35% participating interest is held by Magellan Petroleum Corporation.

Qualified Person's Statement:

The information contained in this announcement has been reviewed and approved by Neil Ritson, Chairman and Director of 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.

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]

Glossary:

API	American Petroleum Institute
choke	a device incorporating a fixed or variable orifice that is used to control fluid flow rate during testing of an exploratory discovery
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
extended flow test	a flow test, as per the permission granted by the Oil and Gas Authority, with an aggregate flow period duration over all zones of greater than 96 hours and up to 90 days maximum.
flow test	a flow test or well test involves testing a well by flowing hydrocarbons to surface, typically 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 hydrocarbons at a commercial flow rate
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
sandstone	a clastic sedimentary rock whose grains are predominantly sand-sized. The term is commonly used to imply consolidated sand or a rock made of predominantly quartz sand.

 

END

 

 

DRLDDGDDLSBBGLU