UKOG files planning application for Isle of Wight appraisal well
UK Oil & Gas Plc (UKOG) filed a planning application with the Isle of Wight Council for appraisal drilling and flow testing of the Arreton oil discovery in Petroleum Exploration Development License (PEDL) 331, which extends over 200 sq km covering most of the southern half of the Isle of Wight. Following a one-week statutory notice period, the application is expected to go live on Mar. 27.
The application details the planned construction, operation, and eventual decommissioning of a well site for the appraisal of hydrocarbons via a deviated borehole (A-3) plus a possible horizontal sidetrack off the mother borehole (A-3z), all to be undertaken within a temporary period of 3 years.
The Arreton conventional oil discovery, a geological analogue of Horse Hill oil field, contains three stacked Jurassic oil pools containing a calculated 127 million bbl aggregate gross P50 oil in place as calculated by Xodus. UKOG's net share of associated mid-case recoverable contingent resource volumes were stated by Xodus to be a material 14.9 million bbl.
A-3 is envisaged to duplicate A-1 and A-2 discoveries drilled by BP and the Gas Council (now Spirit Energy) in 1952 and 1974, respectively. Should short term flow testing of A-3 indicate likely commercial viability, an A-3z horizontal sidetrack would be drilled and put on extended well test to assess longer-term flow performance.
UKOG will minimize potential noise and visual impact of the site, which will be largely screened from public view. A site was chosen adjacent to land already supporting non-agricultural commercial uses. The land immediately to the east supports the Wight Farm Anaerobic Digestion Energy Power Station and to the west supports the Blackwater Quarry and ancillary operations connected to the working of aggregates.
UKOG holds 95% operated interest in PEDL 331.