Xcite Energy (LON:XEL, TSX-V-XEL) shares shot up 10 percent as it announced that the crucial flow test on the Bentley heavy oil field is now underway.
The company said that the test phase has now begun and it is progressing on plan. The flow test will determine whether or not the Bentley field will be commercially viable.
Xcite shares were last changing hands around 301.5 pence, up 10.5 percent.
The tests were initially planned to start in the first week of December, however a combination of poor weather and a technical glitch led to a delay.
The Xcite share price has been through a staggering transformation in 2010, which will have seen some plucky investors doubling their money several times over.
This time last year Xcite shares were changing hands at around 40 pence.
Xcite shares finally broke through the 300 pence level in early, after testing the level a few times in mid-November. The stock reached a new high at 332 pence on 3 December 2010.
This marked a three-fold increase since October, after the initial drill results from the vertical section of the high profile appraisal well impressed.
In the vertical section the oil column was around 40 foot thicker than expected, with 113 feet of oil in a high quality Dornoch reservoir. The oil column had 100% of oil net-to-gross, and the well also confirmed the oil/water contact at 3,729 feet.
“This is a significant outcome as it justifies the placement of the horizontal well,” finance director Rupert Cole told Proactive Investors in October.
Cole highlighted that the pilot results confirm that the horizontal flow test will assess a good part of the reservoir.
The stock was then boosted further through November, as work progressed and Xcite reached target depth in the horizontal section of the well in early November.
On 8 November, Xcite told investors that it has successfully tracked the top of the oil reservoir, and the well provides over 1,800 feet of gross reservoir.
Ultimately the outcome is likely to be pivotal for Xcite. Investors and analysts alike are eagerly awaiting the results of flow test.