Drilling is set to start on an limestone play on the south coast of England.
The drilling rig and key equipment to drill the Broadford Bridge-1 (“BB-1″) Kimmeridge Limestone well is now on site, according to operator UK Oil & Gas Investments PLC (AIM: UKOG)
The firm said all regulatory permissions are in place and drilling is expected to commence shortly.
The exploration step-out well located on the southern flank of the Weald Basin will test a geological look-alike to the company’s Horse Hill discovery.
It id designed to test both the southerly extension of the Kimmeridge Limestone oil play across the basin and its development within the licence.
Drilling will test four naturally fractured Kimmeridge Limestone reservoir horizons, the uppermost two of which were successfully flow tested at the company’s Horse Hill oil discovery in 2016.
The well will acquire the most comprehensive data set gathered to date over the Kimmeridge Limestone sequence, to include extensive conventional coring and electric logging aimed at characterising natural fracturing and other key reservoir parameters.
Once drilled, cored and logged, the well will be completed as a potential oil-producer and flow tested.
Stephen Sanderson, UKOG’s executive chairman, said:”The BB-1 well will add materially to our knowledge and understanding of the Kimmeridge Limestone play within the Licence and across the wider Weald Basin. BB-1 is a key piece of the Kimmeridge Limestone puzzle.”