Alba Mineral Resources Plc (LON:ALBA) chairman George Frangeskides described the company as “very encouraged” following the release of the latest data out of the Horse Hill production testing campaign.
A deluge of stats has indicated the so-called ‘Gatwick Gusher’ project’s Kimmeridge zones can be “commercially viable”, according to the project’s operator.
WATCH: Excitement building at Alba Mineral Resources as Horse Hill production tests impress
It was revealed that the KL3 zone, one of the multiple zones in the targeted Kimmeridge play, had initially produced oil at a rate of 771 barrels of oil per day, and, marked a peak rate of 909 bopd, before reducing to averaging a rate of 342 bopd over the full test period.
In total, some 10,2448 barrels of oil was produced from the KL3 zone over the course of the 30-day programme, which included 9 days of pressure build up (when no oil flowed)and a variety of tests on different well configurations. Additionally, the KL3 produced 3.5mln cubic feet of total gas to date.
UKOG said that well-testing results to date indicate that the KL3 zone is “commercially viable”.
The programme will now move on to open up and the test KL4 zone for testing. Back in 2016, a four-hour long test in the zone saw a production rate equivalent to 901 bopd.
A comingled test on KL3 and KL4 is also anticipated.
US$1mln of revenue generated to date
It was also revealed to investors that the whole Horse Hill programme - which started with a successful extended test of the shallower Portland reservoir – had so far yielded a total of 13,920 barrels of crude- 3,672 barrels from the Portland and 10,248 barrels from KL3.
The sale of this oil has generated around US$1.1mln of gross revenue to date.
It highlighted that, in aggregate, the 2018 and 2016 test programmes had now seen 15,860 barrels of crude from the so-called ‘Gatwick Gusher’ oil project.
"It is very encouraging to Alba, as a significant stakeholder in the Horse Hill project, to learn that the 2018 EWT's total test production has now reached almost 14,000 barrels of oil, with over 10,000 barrels to date from the single Kimmeridge KL3 horizon,” Alba’s Frangeskides said in a statement.
“These production figures mark a significant milestone in the history of the project."
"We now look forward to the forthcoming KL4 EWT programme and the prospect of KL3 and KL4 commingled test production."
Alba owns an 18.1% interest in Horse Hill Developments Limited (HHDL) which in turn holds a 65% project stake in the Horse Hill oil discovery.