UK Oil and Gas Investments claims to have found a 1,000 ft vertical oil bearing zone in the south of England.
The firm has now completed the drilling and coring programme through the entire Kimmeridge Limestone target section at its 100% owned Broadford Bridge-1 (“BB-1”) exploration well, near Billingshurst, West Sussex.
The company said evidence of mobile light oil in core, drill-cuttings, and drilling fluid, plus wet gas readings is supportive of the idea that there is a “significant” 1,490 ft thick continuous oil deposit has been demonstrated at BB-1.
UKOG say that this continuous oil deposit therefore “likely” underlies the entire PEDL234 licence and a significant area of the wider Weald Basin, including the Horse Hill-1 Kimmeridge oil discovery some 27 km to the north east.
The company has the largest licence holding in the Weald Basin and within the prospective area of the Kimmeridge play.
A comprehensive electric logging and fracture-imaging programme is now underway.
A comprehensive extended flow testing programme will commence directly following the setting of 7-inch steel casing and well completion.
This programme is designed to establish if oil can flow at commercial rates and in commercial quantities from BB-1.
Stephen Sanderson, UKOG’s executive chairman, said: “In the company’s view, these highly positive and ground-breaking drilling results support our concept that a continuous oil deposit, some 1100 feet vertical thickness, underlies the BB-1 well location and the wider Weald Basin.
“UKOG as the largest licence holder in the prospective area of the Kimmeridge oil deposit is ideally positioned to take full advantage of this position.
“Given our 100% ownership of BB-1 and the 300 km² size of the PEDL234 licence, this licence now looks set to supplant Horse Hill as the company’s flagship asset.
“The major technical learning from BB-1 to date is that the Kimmeridge oil deposit now spans both fractured limestones and shales over almost the entire Kimmeridge section and that natural fracturing is more pervasive than expected. This bodes very well for the forthcoming flow test programme, which will commence following electric logging and well completion.
“The forthcoming extensive flow testing phase will now hopefully move us even further from proof of geological concept towards demonstrating that BB-1 itself is commercially viable.”