TIDMSOLO
RNS Number : 7180H
Solo Oil Plc
18 March 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, 7 am 18 March 2015
SOLO OIL PLC
("Solo" or the "Company")
Update on Horse Hill discovery, UK Weald Basin
Solo is pleased to announce that its technical alliance partner
in the Horse Hill discovery in the UK Weald Basin, UK Oil and Gas
Investments plc ("UKOG"), has released a significant update on the
technical work being conducted by UKOG on behalf of Horse Hill
Developments Limited ("HHDL") in alliance with NUTECH Ltd
("Nutech").
UKOG have announced that ongoing well analysis of the Horse
Hill-1 well ("HH-1") with Nutech has identified that, in addition
to the previously reported 102 feet of Portland sandstone gross oil
pay, a further 407 feet of potential net oil pay exists within
limestones and claystones of the Kimmeridge Clay ("Kimmeridge"),
Oxford Clay ("Oxford") and Middle Lias ("Lias") Formations
calculated from electric logs.
Neil Ritson, Solo's Chairman, commented:
"We are delighted that the work commissioned jointly with UKOG
and Nutech is yielding such positive results and we look forward to
further updates as the work progresses"
UKOGs press statement states:
Update on HH-1:
Further to the announcement of 17 December 2014, UKOG has now
received and completed the analysis on all the outstanding 277
geochemical samples covering the main areas of interest in the HH-1
well within the PEDL137 and PEDL246 licences, as announced on 17
December 2014. Detailed geochemical analysis, comprising a total of
270 Total Organic Carbon ("TOC") and 28 RockEval pyrolysis
analyses, was undertaken on drill samples, predominantly at 10 foot
depth intervals, from 2,510 to 5,530 feet measured depth ("md") and
6,680-8,620 feet md covering the main formations of interest in the
prospective Jurassic Portland, Kimmeridge, Oxford and Lias sections
of the well. Furthermore, these geochemical analyses have been
incorporated by Nutech, one of the world's leading companies in
petrophysical analysis and reservoir intelligence, into a
preliminary electric log interpretation of the HH-1 well which
demonstrates that, in addition to the previously reported 102 feet
of Portland sandstone gross oil pay, a further 407 feet of
potential net oil pay exists in the well within the limestone and
claystone sections of the Kimmeridge, Oxford and Lias
Formations.
Geochemical results:
The results of the HH-1 detailed geochemical analysis confirm
that the 1,496 feet vertical thickness of Kimmeridge section in
HH-1 contains three discrete thermally mature, highly organic rich,
world class, claystone source rock units lying directly above,
below and between the Upper and Lower Kimmeridge micritic limestone
bands (see Solo RNS 17 December 2014). The Upper, Middle and Lower
Kimmeridge source rock units contain in excess of 780 feet of
drilled section exceeding 2% TOC by weight, with an average of 4.1%
TOC. The richest section, and possible sweet spot, lies between the
base of the Upper Limestone and Top Lower Limestone at 2,931-3,084
feet md with an average of 5% TOC and a high of 9.4% TOC.
Additional pyrolysis results confirm that the source richness of
the three Kimmeridge source units is very high with measured
Generative Potentials ("S2") ranging from an average of 35 kg/tonne
to a high of 103 kg/tonne and with Hydrogen Indices ("HI")
averaging 754 with a high exceeding 1000.
The new geochemical analyses demonstrate that an additional 140
feet thick, thermally mature, claystone source rock unit, exceeding
1% TOC, exists at the base of the Middle Jurassic Oxfordian to
Cornbrash section from 5,400-5,540 feet md. A distinct 50 foot
section from 5,450-5,500 feet md shows average metrics of 2.6% TOC,
S2 of 16 Kg/tonne and an HI of 617. Furthermore a 60-foot thick
section of the Lias from 7,400-7,460 feet md exceeds 1% TOC, with
average metrics of 1.5% TOC, S2 of 5 kg/tonne and HI of 443. More
samples from this 60-foot Lias zone will be sent for additional
RockEval pyrolysis.
Further geochemical analysis is planned in the well to
understand the percentage of organic matter converted to
hydrocarbons within all identified source units together with
values of initial TOC, S2 and HI prior to entering the hydrocarbon
generative window.
Thermal maturity:
As detailed in Solo's 17 December 2014 RNS the Kimmeridge,
Oxfordian and Lias sections in the well are interpreted to be
thermally mature for hydrocarbon generation, with measured
Vitrinite Reflectance ("Ro") exceeding 0.61% at 2,720 feet md/2,450
feet true vertical depth ("tvdss"). The basal unit of the
Kimmeridge section falls within the peak oil generation window with
a measured Ro of 0.81% at 4,180 feet md/3,530 feet tvdss.
Nutech Initial Log Analyses:
Since the 29 January 2015 UKOG and Solo alliance with Nutech,
UKOG has been working closely with Nutech's Houston based team to
derive an initial view of electric log derived reservoir
parameters, including oil in place volumes and rock mechanical
properties, encountered in the HH-1 discovery.
Nutech's initial electric log analysis, utilising 298
geochemical samples for calibration, indicates that in addition to
the Portland sandstone pay previously reported, the HH-1 well
contains 407 net feet of net oil saturated potential pay within the
limestones and claystones of Kimmeridge, Oxford and Lias sections
of the well.
The three Kimmeridge source units with TOCs above 2%, are
interpreted by Nutech to contain a total of 334 feet of net oil
saturated potential pay. This interpreted Kimmeridge pay section
demonstrates an elevated resistivity response compared to
background non-source units of similar lithology.
An additional 43 feet of potential oil pay within a gross
90-foot interval is interpreted to exist within the claystones of
the Middle Jurassic Oxford and Cornbrash section. A 30-foot
potential pay zone in claystones is also calculated in the Lias,
however, this interval has only two samples both demonstrating less
than 2% TOC.
The geochemical and Nutech initial log interpretation results
are summarised in Table 1 below:
Table 1: Geochemical and Nutech initial log analysis run
Formation Gross Nutech Source Unit Generative Hydrogen
Interval Thickness Net Measured Potential, Index
>2% Oil TOC Weight S2 Kg H/tonne
TOC zone % kg/tonne
------------ ----------- ------- -------------- -------------- ----------------
Feet Feet Average Max Average Max Average Max
------------ ----------- ------- -------- ---- -------- ---- -------- ------
Kimmeridge 780 334 4.1 9.4 35 103 754 1000+
------------ ----------- ------- -------- ---- -------- ---- -------- ------
Oxfordian 90 43 2.6 2.8 16 19 617 671
------------ ----------- ------- -------- ---- -------- ---- -------- ------
30
Lias - * 1.5 1.6 5 6.5 443 445
------------ ----------- ------- -------- ---- -------- ---- -------- ------
Table 1: Geochemical and Nutech initial log analysis run, source
UKOG and Nutech.
*Calculated in a zone with 2 rock samples showing <2%
TOC.
Nutech Further Analysis:
Nutech are currently running a further suite of 116 samples from
58 depth-points from HH-1 for XRD (X-Ray Diffraction) and MICP
(Mercury Injection Capillary Pressure) analysis in the USA to
provide more detailed calibration of the electric log response.
These results are expected within the next few weeks. The final
Nutech evaluation of HH-1, with oil in place volumes per acre is
expected to be available shortly thereafter.
In addition, UKOG and Solo are working with Nutech on their
analyses of key wells surrounding the 140 square kilometre (34,600
acre) PEDL137 and PEDL246 licences to further define the likely
semi-regional extent and size of the Kimmeridge, Oxford and Liassic
oil bearing formations encountered in the HH-1 well. Nutech will
also research their extensive database of global producing oil
wells to furnish source and reservoir metrics from potentially
analogous rock formations to the Kimmeridge.
Solo's interest in Horse Hill:
Solo owns a 10% interest in HHDL, a special purpose company
which owns a 65% participating interest and operatorship of onshore
licences PEDL137 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.
Qualified Person's Statement:
The information contained in this announcement has been reviewed
and approved by Neil Ritson, Chairman and Director for Solo Oil Plc
who has over 35 years of relevant experience in the oil industry.
Mr. Ritson is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, an
Active Member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists
and is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London.
For further information:
Solo Oil plc
Neil Ritson
Fergus Jenkins +44 (0) 20 7440 0642
Beaumont Cornish Limited
Nominated Adviser and
Joint Broker
Roland Cornish +44 (0) 20 7628 3396
Old Park Lane Capital
Plc
Joint Broker
Charles Laughton
Zoe Alexander
Shore Capital
Joint Broker
Pascal Keane
Jerry Keen (Corporate
Broker)
Bell Pottinger +44(0) 20 7493 8188
Public Relations +44 (0) 20 7408 4090
Henry Lerwill +44 (0) 20 3772 2500
Glossary:
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
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
gamma-ray log an electric log which measures natural
background radioactivity emitted
mainly by potassium, uranium and
thorium isotopes used as a sedimentary
lithology discriminator
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
generative the amount of hydrocarbons that
potential (S2) can be generated from a unit volume
of source rock established via the
S2 peak from rock-evaluation pyrolysis,
normally expressed in milligrammes
of hydrocarbon per gramme of rock
(or kilogramme per tonne). The S2
figure is achieved when 100% of
the organic matter is transformed
into hydrocarbons.
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
hot shale a shale rock displaying average
initial TOCs normally exceeding
2% and represented by a high gamma
ray electric log reading
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
hydrogen index the amount of hydrogen relative
(HI) to the amount of organic carbon
in a sample, normally expressed
in milligrammes of hydrogen per
gramme of TOC. The higher the amount
of hydrogen the more oil prone the
source rock when subjected to time
temperature and pressure; an initial
HI over 450 normally indicates an
oil prone source rock
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
measured depth The length of the wellbore, as if
(md) determined by a measuring stick.
This measurement differs from the
true vertical depth of the well
in all but vertical wells. Since
the wellbore cannot be physically
measured from end to end, the lengths
of individual joints of drill pipe,
drill collars and other drill string
elements are measured with a steel
tape measure and added together.
In virtually all cases, the actual
wellbore is slightly deeper than
the reported depth due to the expansion
of the steel drill pipe under its
own weight.
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
MICP mercury injection capillary pressure.
A technique to provide data for
the calibration of porosity logs
using fresh or archived cuttings
samples as well as core. MICP analysis
is performed by placing a tarred
sample in the instrument chamber
which is then evacuated and flooded
with mercury. Pressure on the mercury
is incrementally increased forcing
mercury through progressively smaller
pore throats. The volume of mercury
forced into the sample is equivalent
to the volume of porosity accessed.
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
micrite a sedimentary rock formed of very
fine grained calcareous particles
ranging in diameter from 0.06 to
2 mm, often referred to as lime
mudstone
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
pay A reservoir or portion of a reservoir
that contains economically producible
hydrocarbons. The term derives from
the fact that it is capable of "paying"
an income. The overall interval
in which pay sections occur is the
gross pay; the smaller portions
of the gross pay that meet local
criteria for pay (such as minimum
porosity, permeability and hydrocarbon
saturation) are net pay.
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
oil initially the quantity of oil or petroleum
in place that is estimated to exist originally
in naturally occurring accumulations
before any extraction or production
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
oil saturation the amount of the pore space within
a reservoir containing oil
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
play a set of known or postulated oil
and or gas accumulations sharing
similar geologic, geographic, and
temporal properties, such as source
rock, migration pathways, timing,
trapping mechanism, and hydrocarbon
type
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
porosity the percentage of void space in
a rock formation, where the void
may contain, for example, water
or petroleum
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
pyrolysis pyrolysis is the decomposition of
organic matter by heating in the
absence of oxygen. Organic geochemists
use pyrolysis to measure TOC, generative
potential (S2), richness (HI) and
maturity of potential source rocks.
In a pyrolysis analysis, the organic
content is pyrolyzed in the absence
of oxygen, then combusted. The amount
of hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide
released is measured.
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
reservoir a subsurface rock formation containing
an individual natural accumulation
of moveable petroleum that is confined
by impermeable rock/formations
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
RockEval the most widely used pyrolysis technique.
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
source rock a rock rich in organic matter which,
if subjected to sufficient heat
and pressure over geological time,
will generate oil or gas. Typical
source rocks, usually shale or limestone,
contain above an initial 1% organic
matter by weight
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
sweet spot the area within a shale source rock
unit showing highest TOC and generative
potential normally associated with
basin centred deposition
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
thermally mature a term applied to source rocks which
have received sufficient temperature
and pressure over geological time
to generate hydrocarbons
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
TOC total organic carbon - the weight
percent amount of organic carbon
within the rock which is a commonly
used measure of hydrocarbon source
rock richness
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
tvdss true vertical depth below a subsea
datum
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
vitrinite reflectance a measure of the percentage of incident
(Ro) light reflected from the surface
of vitrinite particles in a sedimentary
rock. It is referred to as % Ro
and is a measure of the thermal
maturity of a rock. Top of the oil
window is dependent on source rock
type, but is widely recognized to
be at an Ro equivalent of between
0.5-0.6%
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
XRD X-ray diffraction. A technique used
to determine the precise mineralogical
content of a rock sample
---------------------- -------------------------------------------
This information is provided by RNS
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