UK Oil and Gas Investments Plc (LON:UKOG) has told investors that ‘at first look’ the results coming from the Broadford Bridge well corroborates the so-called ‘Gatwick Gusher’ Horse Hill discovery.
In a statement, UKOG revealed that 330 feet of core has been recovered from the Broadford Bridge well where mobile light oil is being observed as operations continue.
Oil is observed seeping from multiple sections of naturally fractured KL4 calcareous shales and limestones in the cored sections, UKOG said, whilst adding that mobile Kimmeridge oil was also recovered in drilling fluid.
Additionally, the company noted that wet gas readings remained at high levels throughout cored, something that was ‘almost identical’ to what happened at Horse Hill.
WATCH:Hydrocarbon shows from Broadford Bridge drilling 'pretty encouraging' - analyst Barney Gray
UKOG describes the presence of light mobile oil in fractured Kimmeridge shales as being highly significant, adding that it corroborates the finding from Horse Hill that suggested oil production was likely derived from a much larger reservoir ‘tank’ than the two KL3 and KL4 zones alone.
It highlighted that a flow testing programme will now “rigorously examine” the possibility that there is a 600-700 feet thick, naturally fractured oil reservoir (encompassing all four Kimmeridge Limestones) underlying a significant proportion of Southern England’s Weald Basin.
Stephen Sanderson, UKOG executive chairman, in a statement said: “The coring programme continues to deliver positive results and important new insights into this continuous oil accumulation, the first of its kind discovered in the UK.
“Following the KL3 and contingent KL2 coring programmes, we will run electric logs, set the final 7-inch steel casing and then, following the grant of the remaining necessary regulatory permissions, move straight to extended flow testing operations around the second half of July."
In London, UKOG shares were trading sharply higher in Monday’s early deals, changing hands at 2.28p each.
The Broadford Bridge site is located near Billingshurst, West Sussex, and situated around 27 kilometres away from the Horse Hill discovery well it is deemed to be an exploration ‘step-out’ designed to find new resources and provide additional insights to the Kimmeridge play that was unearthed by the previous well.