Alba Mineral Resources plc (LON:ALBA) will be keenly watching progress at the Horse Hill oil project, onshore southern England, where drilling has now begun for a horizontal well.
The AIM-quoted firm owns an 11.765% interest in the company that’s operating Horse Hill.
Drilling is now underway for the HH-2/2z horizontal well at Horse Hill project, located near Gatwick.
It is one of two horizontal wells which will establish valuable production from the conventional Portland oil pool, UKOG highlighted.
These wells, as horizontals, will be exposed to more of the reservoir and as such are expected to flow at significantly higher production rates than the 362 barrels of oil per day measured whilst testing the vertical Portland section in the current Horse Hill well.
READ: Alba looks forward to new Horse Hill well
AIM-quoted partner UKOG, the largest stakeholder in the project with 85.635% of the whole project, has said it expects that HH-2 will be put into long term production by the end of 2019.
Alba executive chairman George Frangeskides, meanwhile, said: "I am pleased to report on the rapid operational progress that is being made in this next phase of drilling at Horse Hill.
“We look forward to providing further updates as the project moves forward towards the goal of long-term commercial production by the end of 2019."
In a separate statement, UKOG chief executive Stephen Sanderson described the well spudding as “another landmark milestone’ for the project.
“We are confident that the meticulously planned HH-2/2z operation, the first of two planned horizontal wells in the Portland oil pool, leaves little to chance.
“We look forward to a safe and successful drilling campaign and to the realistic prospect of HH-2/2z delivering a significant increase in UKOG's net oil production and associated revenues before the end of 2019."
The drill plan in more detail
UKOG detailed that the programme will start with a vertical pilot hole, referred to as HH-2, down to a depth of around 3,000 feet.
The horizontal well, referred to as HH-2z, will then be drilled out horizontally to include around 3,200 feet through what‘s believed to be the most oil-productive part of the Portland reservoir.
It all, some 5,800 feet of drilling is expected to take place to deliver the well.
