Hartshead Resources NL (ASX:HHR) shares are trading higher after the company reported a material increase in its Phase III exploration prospect inventory within the UK Southern Gas Basin following an exploration study across Licence P2607.
The Phase III exploration inventory now totals 14 prospects with Phase III 2U prospective resources totalling 3,442 billion cubic feet (Bcf) unrisked.
Aggregated Phase I, Phase II and Phase III volumetrics across the Hartshead portfolio now stand at:
➢ 2C Contingent Resources of 3543 Bcf; and
➢ 2U Prospective Resources total 344 Bcf.
Shares were as much as 29% higher intraday to A$0.027.
Exploration study
The exploration study completed by Xodus Group generated a new prospect inventory totaling 14 prospects and leads with unrisked 2Y prospective resources of 344 Bcf.
A total of 12 new prospects, in addition to the Garrod and Ayrton prospects, have been identified in the licence area.
All of the new prospects are undrilled structural traps within the Rotliegendes reservoir.
Further work
A number of opportunities for further work have been identified by Xodus to potentially further de-risk the prospects and reduce volumetric uncertainty including seismic reprocessing and geological and geophysical studies.
The prospects will be economically evaluated and ranked prior to being short-listed for further work.
Future work on short-listed prospects will also involve initial well planning for the drilling of exploration wells in the final selected prospect or prospects.
It may be that the McLaren prospect can be drilled as part of the Somerville development project in 2024 or 2025 and this option is being evaluated.
Any other prospects selected to be drilled would likely be drilled as vertical exploration wells, sometime following Phase I first gas, which is scheduled for the second half of 2024.
Total prospective resources
When aggregated with the Phase I and Phase II 2C Contingent Resources, the inclusion of the new Phase III 2U Prospective Resources takes the potential recoverable gas volume of the current Hartshead portfolio to approximately 700 Bcf.
UK Southern Gas Basin
Hartshead is focused on its 100%-owned Production Seaward Licence P2607 comprising five blocks, which contain four existing gas fields in the UK Southern Gas Basin.
The company is focused on building a financially, technically and environmentally responsible European energy business.
Its goal is to secure and invest in projects where resources can be extracted and delivered to meet Europe’s growing energy demand while supporting the transition to a low carbon future.