UK Oil & Gas share price soars after claiming “unequivocal proof of concept” at Gatwick Gusher
UK Oil & Gas's share price soared more than 15 per cent this morning after claiming it has "unequivocal proof of concept" in its Gatwick Gusher wells, claming tests show the flow from Horse Hill could be one of the largest ever found onshore in the UK.
Its most recent tests, at Upper Kimmeridge, have found "100 per cent dry, 40 degree API, light, sweet oil" has flowed "freely to the surface, without pumping, at an average stabilised rate in excess of 900 barrels per day".
Combined, the two Upper and Lower Kimmeridge limestone intervals have now produced an average stable rate of 1360 bopd. As a result Horse Hill Developments and UKOG plan to move "full speed ahead" to obtain the necessary permissions to return to the well, drill a horizontal sidetrack and conduct long term production tests.
Stephen Sanderson, UKOG's executive chairman, said: "This [latest] test provides unequivocal proof of concept for the company's new Kimmeridge limestone oil play. The two Kimmeridge flow tests have not only shown that moveable oil exists within the Kimmeridge, but more importantly, that it can be extracted at commercial rates even from vertical wells without significant stimulation.
"This result is therefore very significant for the company and the Weald Basin of the UK. The Kimmeridge play has moved from science project into the zone of commercial reality.
"The well's natural aggregate flow rate from the Kimmeridge limestones of 1360 bopd looks to be one of the highest natural flow rates recorded in a UK onshore wildcat well since the Wytch Farm discovery in the 1970s. It should be noted that the planned use of horizontal appraisal and development wells may further significantly enhance production flow rates seen to date."