LONDON: UK Oil & Gas PLC (UKOG) has announce that aggregate test production from the Portland reservoir at the Horse Hill oil field, in which the Company has a 50.635% majority interest, now exceeds 10,000 barrels (bbl).

The continuous Portland dry oil flow (i.e. oil with zero water content), at a stable daily average rate of over 220 barrels per day (bopd), forms a key part of the schedule of works required to finalise the Portland field development plan and to the targeted establishment of permanent long-term Portland production by end 2019, a statement issued to London Stock Exchange said.

The Horse Hill-1 (HH-1) well and surrounding highly prospective licences PEDL137 and PEDL246 are operated  by UK Oil & Gas’s subsidiary Horse Hill Developments Ltd.

Rig tender documents have also been issued to contractors for the drilling of the HH-2 Portland and HH-1z Kimmeridge horizontal appraisal/production wells and for which planning and environmental permits are in place. Drilling is targeted to start in spring 2019.

HH-1 test production is planned to continue until the completion and testing of the new HH-2 Portland well.

Stephen Sanderson, UKOG’s Chief Executive, commented: “The Portland’s continued excellent production performance, particularly from a non-optimised vertical well, provides building confidence that the previously reported 720-1,080 bopd horizontal well production targets are increasingly attainable. The recent rig-tender exercise also means we remain fully on track to begin the first horizontals in Spring, with long term production testing of both wells planned to follow directly afterwards. This programme puts UKOG in a strong position to deliver real growth and positive cash flow in the near future.”