UKOG Energy for Britain

Licences: PEDL137 and PEDL246
UKOG interest: 85.635%

The field and surrounding licence is operated by UKOG's subsidiary company Horse Hill Developments Ltd (“HHDL”) in which UKOG has 77.9% ownership. The Licensees are HHDL (65% interest) and UKOG (137/246) Ltd (35% interest).

At the beginning of the reporting period, further well intervention operations on Horse Hill-1 (“HH-1”) were safely completed, optimising oil flow by isolating the Kimmeridge perforations, by reperforating the full Portland oil producing section, by insertion of a new simplified production tubing string and by setting the downhole pump at a deeper level than the existing perforations to increase pumping efficiency.

The intervention was immediately followed by an ongoing series of multi-week production optimisation trials to achieve an optimum balance between oil revenues and water handling and other operational costs. Trials include well-cycling (i.e., shutting in the well for a set period each day to reduce water inflow) and pump optimisations. The trials continued for several months.

These improvements set HH-1 up for long term continuous and optimised oil production from the Portland. Conversion of the HH-2z well to water injection, subject to regulatory approval, plus further infill development of both Portland (HH-3 well) and Kimmeridge (HH-4 well) offer significant upside for the Horse Hill field.

Pressure build-up data was also carried out confirming the HH-1 connected oil in place volumes of 7-11 mmbbl.

The removal of ancillary third-party rental equipment and the purchase of the surface production equipment from PW Well Test Ltd was completed.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic the OGA granted two-year extensions to the remaining deadlines for the PEDL137 and PEDL246 Retention Area work programmes.

Planned shutdowns were successfully completed to install new surface production facilities in line with requirements under the Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations. In addition, a new more efficient gas flare was installed and commissioned successfully at Horse Hill.

As of end-December over 162,000 bbl of Brent quality crude had been produced and exported from the Kimmeridge and Portland pools.

Significant efforts have again been made in managing and reducing operational costs. Recent Brent crude prices of over $90/bbl have helped operational cash flow from the field.

During the period an energy efficiency study was completed for Horse Hill to reduce diesel consumption and carbon emissions recommending the installation of 250kW solar PV and 67kWh Li-ion battery storage. Further detailed scoping is required during the next period to confirm capital expenditure and timings for the project within the overall field development.

Post period, the Company announced the signing of a Heads of Terms with geothermal specialists Ceraphi to enter into a joint venture agreement to develop part of the Horse Hill site into a geothermal energy hub (GeoHub). The GeoHub, currently at a conceptual stage, is targeted to generate and supply more than 200,000 MWh per year of continuous baseload, primarily as heat energy. The project's first phase would aim to supply significant industrial end-users in the locality with 100% green heating and cooling plus ancillary green electricity and/or hydrogen.