TIDMALBA
RNS Number : 1639W
Alba Mineral Resources PLC
05 November 2014
5 November 2014
Alba Mineral Resources PLC
("Alba " or the "Company")
Horse Hill-1 Provisional Results at TD, Weald Basin UK
Alba today announces that the Horse Hill-1 well was successfully
completed with a discovery in the Jurassic and has reached total
depth ("TD") at 8,770 feet measured depth ("MD") in rocks of
pre-Triassic Palaeozoic age, which were prognosed at that
depth.
The well has been electrically logged from the previous casing
point to TD and a vertical seismic profile ("VSP") has been
acquired to correlate the well to the available 2D seismic data.
The logs are now being analysed along with all other relevant data
from the well and the initial results are set out below.
In addition, the well is currently being prepared for future
flow testing in the identified Jurassic age Portland Sandstone
discovery.
Portland Discovery
The well is currently being prepared for testing and as a
probable future oil production well from the Portland Sandstone oil
discovery, where, as announced on 24 October 2014, a preliminary
most likely estimate of 3.1 million barrels ("mmbbls") of gross in
place oil has been calculated within the upper Portland from a
102-foot gross oil column, with a further most likely unrisked
undiscovered gross oil in place volume of 16.8 mmbbls in a separate
lower sand in the Portland interval located in an untested fault
block immediately to the south.
On completion of the analysis of the electric logs and the VSP,
Horse Hill Developments Ltd ("HHDL") as operator, intends to apply
to the Department of Energy and Climate Control ("DECC") for
permission to carry out a flow test on the Portland Sandstone.
Kimmeridge Limestone Potential
Geochemical studies, to determine oil source rock richness and
thermal maturity, are being conducted on rock samples from the
Kimmeridge Clay, Oxford Clay and Liassic Shale formations
encountered in the well. The geochemical analyses will be
integrated with other data in order to evaluate the potential for
Horse Hill-1, and the area to the southwest, to have generated
hydrocarbons resulting in the trapping of oil in the Portland and
other reservoir objectives within the southern area of PEDL
137.
Preliminary analysis of samples from the Kimmeridge Clay
immediately below the Portland Sandstones, in a section which also
contains oil shows and multiple limestone sections individually up
to 105 feet in thickness (refer RNS dated 16 October 2014), have
higher than expected oil source potential with a measured total
organic carbon content ("TOC") of over 5% by weight. The operator
continues to investigate the conventional potential of the
Kimmeridge Limestones in a possibly analogous situation to the
nearby Balcombe oil discovery.
Triassic Target
The Triassic target, which although previously untested was
believed to have potential for gas, was penetrated at 8,054 feet MD
and an approximately 380-foot thick interval, interpreted to be
equivalent to the Rhaetic and Mercia Mudstone formations, and was
drilled without any observable reservoir rocks or moveable gas
being encountered.
The Mercia Mudstone overlies and seals the Triassic Sherwood
Sandstone oil pool of the Wytch Farm Oil Field in the Wessex Basin.
The Horse Hill-1 well results suggest the prognosed Triassic
reservoir rocks, equivalent to the Sherwood Sandstone, are not
developed this far north in the basin, though they may be developed
to the southwest closer to the center of the basin.
The Marriott 50 rig will be demobilised over the coming week
from the well site and all equipment will be removed pending a
future decision on testing and production.
Michael Nott, the CEO of Alba, commented:
"Whilst we are naturally disappointed that there was no gas
discovery in the Triassic, we remain delighted that the well has
made an oil discovery in the Jurassic Portland Sandstone and that
further opportunities for additional oil potential have also been
revealed by the well, particularly in the Kimmeridge Limestones,
both in the licence block and in the wider Weald Basin, and that
these are now in the process of being assessed.
"All the data from the well will now be fully analysed and a
decision taken on the work necessary to appraise and develop the
Portland discovery."
Alba interest in Horse Hill
The Horse Hill-1 well is located on the northern side of the
Weald Basin near Gatwick Airport. Alba owns a 5% interest in Horse
Hill Developments Ltd. (HHDL). HHDL is a special purpose company
that owns a 65% participating interest and operatorship of onshore
licences PEDL 137 and the adjacent licence PEDL 246 in the UK Weald
Basin. The participants in the Horse Hill-1 well are HHDL with a
65% working interest and Magellan Petroleum Corporation with a 35%
interest. Alba's net attributable interest in PEDL 137 and 246 is
therefore 3.25%.
Competent Person's Statement
The technical information contained in this announcement has,
for the purposes of the AIM Guidance Note for Mining, Oil and Gas
companies has been reviewed and approved by Jonathan
Tidswell-Pretorius, executive director at HHDL and Chairman of
Angus Energy Ltd, a UK-registered onshore operator who has 15 years
of relevant experience in the oil and gas industry. Mr.
Tidswell-Pretorius is a member of the Society of Petroleum
Engineers and United Kingdom Onshore Oil and Gas (UKOOG) industry
bodies.
Glossary:
2D seismic seismic data collected using the two-dimensional
common depth point method
--------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------
contingent resources those quantities of petroleum estimated, as of a
given date, to be potentially recoverable from known
accumulations, but the applied project(s) are not
yet considered mature enough for commercial development
due to one or more contingencies. Contingent Resources
may include, for example, projects for which there
are currently no viable markets, or where commercial
recovery is dependent on technology under development,
or where evaluation of the accumulation is insufficient
to clearly assess commerciality
--------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------
discovery a discovery is a petroleum accumulation for which
one or several exploratory wells have established
through testing, sampling and/or logging the existence
of a significant quantity of potentially moveable
hydrocarbons
--------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------
electric logs tools used within the wellbore to measure the rock
and fluid properties of surrounding rock formations
--------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------
MD measured depth
--------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------
oil in place the quantity of oil or petroleum that is estimated
to exist originally in naturally occurring accumulations
before any extraction or production
--------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------
reservoir a subsurface rock formation containing an individual
natural accumulation of moveable petroleum that
is confined by impermeable rock/formations
--------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------
TD total depth
--------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------
TOC total organic carbon - a measure of hydrocarbon
source rock richness
--------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------
TVDss true vertical depth below a subsea datum
--------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------
undiscovered those quantities of petroleum which are estimated,
as of a given date, to be contained within accumulations
that have not been tested by drilling
--------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------
VSP vertical seismic profile
--------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------
For further information, please contact:
Alba Mineral Resources plc
Michael Nott, CEO +44 (0) 20 3696 4616
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP
Avi Robinson/ James Caithie
+44 (0) 20 7148 7900
Dowgate Capital Stockbrokers Limited
Jason Robertson/ Neil Badger +44 (0) 1293 517 744
Notes to Editors:
Alba holds interests in Mauritania (uranium: JV with FOSSE
Investments Limited) and Ireland (base metals). It also owns a 5
per cent interest in Horse Hill Developments Limited, the company
which owns a 65 per cent participating interest and operatorship of
the Horse Hill oil and gas project. The projects are at different
stages of development. The Mauritania uranium project comprises
early phase exploration targets, whereas drilling has been
undertaken on the Irish base metals project. The Horse Hill-1 well
has now completed at a total depth of 8,770 feet.
Alba continues actively to review and discuss other project
opportunities which have value enhancing potential for the Company
whether by acquisition, farm in or joint venture in a range of
jurisdictions around the world.
ENDS
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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