Drilling Update, Horse Hill-1, Weald Basin UK
Solo Oil plc (AIM: SOLO) today advises that the Horse Hill-1 well has now been drilled to the second casing point at a depth of 1,795 feet measured depth ("MD"), and the setting and cementing a 13 3/8-inch steel casing is now underway. The bottom of the well is currently located in the upper part of the Jurassic and the operator reports that the well has encountered the expected mud gas up to C3 (propane) and mineral fluorescence just above current well depth.
Based on observed geological analysis and mud logging from rock cuttings circulated out of the hole indicate that geological markers in the well are slightly shallower than initially expected based on seismic and the nearby Collendean-1 well drilled by Esso in 1964. As a consequence the second casing point has been revised up from 1,865 feet MD to reflect this change.
The Horse Hill-1 well is located on the northern side of UK Weald Basin near Gatwick Airport and is planned to drill to a Total Depth ("TD") of 8,680 feet measured depth ("MD") to test a number of conventional oil and gas targets. The primary oil reservoir targets in this well lie in the Jurassic Portland Sandstone at about 2,200 feet true vertical depth below sea level ("TVD ss") and the Corallian Sandstone at about 3,440 feet TVD ss. There are also a number of secondary oil targets in the Jurassic aged formations, including the Great Oolite Limestone, estimated to be at 4,530 feet TVD ss.
After setting the 13 3/8-inch casing the well will be drilled in 12 ½-inch hole to a depth of approximately 5,900 feet MD where open-hole electric logs will be acquired to evaluate the anticipated Jurassic oil reservoirs before setting a 9 5/8-inch casing. An 8 ½-inch hole will then be drilled to TD in order to test for Triassic aged formations which are expected to contain gas.
Solo owns a 10% direct interest in Horse Hill Developments Ltd ("HHDL"). HHDL is a special purpose company that 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 with a 35% interest.