17 October 2016
Doriemus PLC
(“Doriemus” or the
“Company”)
Horse Hill-1 Oil
Discovery, Weald Basin, UK
Planning
Application for Significant Appraisal and Drilling Programme, UK
Weald Basin
Doriemus PLC (ISDX:DOR), the London traded UK focused oil and gas
exploration and production investment company, is pleased to
announce that Horse Hill Developments Ltd (“HHDL”) has informed the
Company that a planning application has now been submitted to the
Surrey County Council seeking permission to conduct further
significant appraisal testing and drilling at the Company’s Horse
Hill-1 (“HH-1”) oil discovery, located in Licence PEDL137, close to
Gatwick Airport. The HH-1 oil discovery achieved an aggregate
stabilised flow rate of 1,688 barrels of oil per day from two
Kimmeridge limestones plus the overlying Portland sandstone when
tested earlier this year.
David Lenigas, Doriemus’s Executive
Chairman, commented:
“Doriemus is excited that the Horse Hill oil play at Gatwick
Airport is finally, subject to planning approval, moving further
along the path to appraisal and development, with this important
submission of the necessary planning applications to the Surrey
County Council. The planned long term flow testing and the drilling
of 2 new wells, including one low cost sidetrack well, should
significantly enhance Horse Hill’s value to shareholders and
stakeholders’ and assist Doriemus towards near term oil production
and oil revenues from this important onshore UK oil discovery. It
is also an important step in furthering our knowledge of the
Kimmeridge limestone plays beneath our acreage in the Weald,
especially our interests in the Brockham and Lidsey production
fields.”
Subject to the required regulatory approvals, the first phase of
the proposed development is planned to consist of the extended
production testing of four zones, designed to confirm the
commerciality of the discovery, and to examine a previously
untested Kimmeridge limestone.
The planning application also seeks permission for a two-well
drilling phase, which contingent upon successful testing, will
further appraise the extent of the oil accumulations and the
field’s production capabilities. The proposed drilling phase
includes plans for a deviated sidetrack, HH-1z, to be drilled from
the existing HH-1 borehole, together with a new well, Horse Hill-2
(“HH-2”). On completion of drilling, both the HH-1z and HH-2 are
planned to be long-term production tested.
In order to minimise the impact to the locality, feedback from
both a public consultation and engagement process, undertaken in
July, and subsequent meetings with local residents’
representatives, was incorporated into the envisaged development
design and planning application. The normal local planning
authority cycle for an application not requiring an Environmental
Impact Assessment such as at Horse Hill, takes approximately 13
weeks.
HHDL and the Company’s Interest in the
Licence
HHDL is a special purpose vehicle, which owns a 65% working
interest and operatorship of the Licence. UKOG now owns a 10%
beneficial shareholding in HHDL.
The directors of the Company accept responsibility for the
contents of this announcement.
-ENDS-
For further additional information, please contact:
Doriemus plc
David Lenigas / Donald Strang |
+44 (0) 20 7440
0640 |
Peterhouse Corporate
Finance Limited
Corporate Adviser
Guy Miller / Fungai Ndoro |
+44 (0) 20 7469 0930 |
Optiva Securities
Limited
Broker
Christian Dennis / Jeremy King |
+44 (0) 20 3137 1902 |
Square1
Consulting
Public Relations
David Bick |
+44 (0) 20 7929
5599 |
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 |
extended production test |
a flow test, or extended well test
as per the permission granted by the Oil and Gas Authority, with an
aggregate flow period duration over all zones of greater than 96
hours and up to 90 days maximum |
sidetrack |
re-entry of a well from the well's
surface location with drilling equipment for the purpose of
deviating from the existing well bore to achieve production or well
data from an alternative zone or bottom hole location, or to remedy
an engineering problem encountered in the existing well bore. |