There was more Horse Hill related news this week..
Shares in all the major participants in the Horse Hill project were on the move as UK Oil & Gas Investments PLC (LON:UKOG) announced drilling would start shortly at the Broadford Bridge-1 well.
All regulatory permissions are now in place and spudding is expected shortly, it said in a statement Thursday evening.
Broadford Bridge-1 (BB-1) will test a geological look-alike to Horse Hill and is 14 miles away located on the southern flank of the Weald Basin.
The well is designed to test both the southerly extension of the Kimmeridge Limestone oil play across the Weald Basin and its development within the licence.
Conventional drill techniques will test four naturally fractured Kimmeridge Limestone reservoir horizons, the uppermost two of which were successfully flow tested at the company's Horse Hill oil discovery in 2016.
The BB-1 well is located in the 300 sq Km PEDL234 licence, which is 100% owned UKOG subsidiary Kimmeridge Oil & Gas Limited.
Elsewhere in the sector, there was financing news from Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited (LON:COPL, CVE:XOP), which unveiled plans to raise £3.25mln via a share placing at 0.5p.
The proceeds will provide it with the working capital it needs as it executes on its business plan.
It is currently looking for project-level finance for its drilling programme in Nigeria and has hired COFARCO of Paris France and Zeus Capital in London to find it.
COPL owns 50% of ShoreCan, which turn holds 80% Essar Exploration & Production whose major asset is OPL 226 offshore Nigeria.
Elsewhere, investors in the exploration sector have been treated to some very significant successes of late, though a new well starting next month promises what might be the biggest prize yet.
On to well news, and London listed stocks such as Hurricane Energy, Sound Energy and Falcon Oil & Gas have all been somewhat transformed by recent successes, and this summer Providence Resources PLC (LON:PVR) will likely be next in the sector’s spotlight.
Providence and new partner Cairn Energy PLC (LON:CNE) will this summer test two very high impact exploration targets, with potential for 5bn barrels of oil, in the Atlantic margin in waters off Ireland’s west coast.
Drilling is due to start in towards the end of June, with one well testing both the Druid and Drombeg prospects.
Over to Argentina and Andes Energia PLC (LON:AEN) lifted its production rates and revenues last year, though the net loss widened. It also told investors on Friday, it had made a good operational start to 2017.
For the year to end December, 2016, Andes said its average production was lifted to 3,449 boepd (barrels of oil equivalent per day), compared to 3,211 barrels in 2015, largely due to the increase in actrivity at its Chachahuen conventional field.
Here, 98 wells were drilled in 2016, 70 of them producing ones, while 21 producers were converted into injector wells.
Gulfsands Petroleum plc (LON:GPX) confirmed that it is once again the sole owner of the PUT-14 contract in Colombia.
The company had been in talks since October of last year with Samarium Energy & Resource Corporation about a farm-out agreement, but the parties have been unable to agree on a mutually acceptable way forward.
In March, as the talks dragged on, Gulfsands took the decision to pursue the work programme alone, and work on this will now kick off soon, with Gulfsands as the sole operator.
Meanwhile, Savannah Petroleum PLC (LON:SAVP) said the last year has been about laying the foundations for the company’s upcoming drilling campaign in Niger.
In its 2016 results statement, it highlighted the new competent persons report, which has lifted its prospective resource to just shy of 2.2bn barrels from 1.191bn.
It follows of the shooting of a 3D seismic survey over its R3 production area, which came in ahead of budget, and the acquisition of a neighbouring block.
Financially, the company is in rude health with US$23mln in the bank at the year end, and a credit facility worth almost US$13mln. It is estimated to own net assets of US$118mln.
Curzon Energy Plc, which has been gearing up for a float in London this year, has agreed conditionally to acquire Coos Bay Energy LLC, a Nevada-based corporation, which owns coalbed methane gas accumulations in Coos Bay County, Oregon.
Under the terms of the deal, YA Global Investors LLP, the 75% owner of Coos Bay and a holder of 15.53% of the voting interests in Curzon Energy, has agreed to sell its majority holding in Coos for US$4mln which will be satisfied by the issue of 40mln new ordinary shares.
Finally, Mosman Oil And Gas Limited (LON:MSMN) has closed this week the deal to acquire an initial 10% interest in the Arkoma Stacked Pay project in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma for US$500mln.
John W Barr, chairman, said: "This acquisition delivers production and resources with upside potential at an economically acceptable cost, meeting our investment criteria.
"Completing the Arkoma Stacked Pay Acquisition in Oklahoma means work on the independent resource report can now commence. We look forward to further developments onsite as an additional two wells are shortly being brought onto production. In parallel Mosman is also continuing to review other opportunities."