UK Oil & Gas PLC Acquisition of Further Interest in Horse Hill (9464P)

TIDMUKOG

RNS Number : 9464P

UK Oil & Gas PLC

14 February 2019

UK Oil & Gas PLC

("UKOG" or the "Company")

Acquisition of Further Interest in Horse Hill Oil Field and Licences

UK Oil & Gas PLC (London AIM: UKOG), the largest onshore licence acreage holder in the Weald Basin, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a binding heads of terms with Doriemus Plc ("Doriemus") to acquire a further 6% shareholding in the Company's subsidiary, Horse Hill Developments Limited ("HHDL"), the operator and 65% direct interest holder in the Horse Hill oil field and the surrounding geologically prospective PEDL137 and PEDL246 licences. Upon completion, the Company will hold a 77.9% direct interest in HHDL and a majority 50.635% interest in the Horse Hill oil field and licences.

As previously reported in UKOG's Strategic Review of 23 January 2019, the Company's prime 2019 target is to move Horse Hill's ongoing test-based oil production into permanent production by the end of the year. Two new horizontal wells, HH-2 Portland and HH-1z Kimmeridge, are planned to start in spring 2019. Once drilled, both wells will be put on long term production test until planning consent for permanent production is granted. Planning consent and environmental permits for HH-2 and HH-1z are in place and UKOG is currently fully funded for both wells.

The Strategic Review also detailed that the HH-2 Portland production target of 720-1,080 barrels of oil per day ("bopd") from the first horizontal well, HH-2, which has been externally verified as a realistic and viable expectation by Xodus Group Ltd ("Xodus"), aims to position Horse Hill as the Weald Basin's leading oil producing field. Subsequent planned horizontal wells in 2020 are designed to boost gross production to over 2,000 bopd, which would place UKOG within the current top three oil producing companies in the UK onshore sector.

Permits to cover up to 20 years of permanent production are expected to be in place by autumn 2019.

Transaction Summary

The total consideration of GBP2,100,000, with an effective date of 13 February 2019, will be satisfied through the issue of 129,629,630 new ordinary shares in UKOG ("Consideration Shares"). The Consideration Shares are calculated based upon the 5-day volume weighted average price to market close on Friday 8 February 2019 of 1.62 pence. HHDL recorded a loss of approximately GBP501,551 in its accounts for the year ended December 2017.

Completion of this acquisition will be announced in due course.

Stephen Sanderson, UKOG's Chief Executive, commented:

"We are delighted to acquire this further share of our Horse Hill flagship oil production project. The transaction now firmly establishes UKOG as the majority interest holder in the Horse Hill Portland and Kimmeridge oil field, together with the highly prospective surrounding licence acreage. Horse Hill is UKOG's stated 2019 focus and we are on-track to deliver continuous test-derived oil production until the start of long-term stable oil production by year end. The plan is designed to make Horse Hill the Weald Basin's number one oil producing field in 2019 and to move UKOG upwards into the top tier of UK onshore oil producing companies shortly afterwards.

We wish Doriemus well in their planned new ventures in Western Australia."

Qualified Person's Statement

Rob Wallace, UKOG's principal technical advisor, who has over 40 years of relevant experience in the oil industry, has approved the information contained in this announcement. Mr Wallace is a Chartered Scientist, Chartered Geologist and Fellow of the Geological Society of London, an active member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, a member of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain and a member of the South African Geophysical Society.

For further information, please contact:

 
 UKOG 
 Stephen Sanderson / Kiran Morzaria   Tel: [phone] 
 WH Ireland (Nominated Adviser 
  and Broker) 
 James Joyce / James Sinclair-Ford    Tel: [phone] 
 Cenkos Securities PLC (Joint 
  Broker) 
 Joe Nally / Neil McDonald            Tel: [phone] 
 Novum Securities (Joint Broker) 
 John Bellis                          Tel: [phone] 
 Public Relations 
 Brian Alexander / David Bick         Tel: [phone] 
 

Glossary

 
 extended well   a well test, as per the permission granted by 
  test            the Oil and Gas Authority, with an aggregate flow 
                  period duration over all zones of greater than 
                  96 hours and up to 90 days per zone 
 flow test       a flow test or well test involves testing a well 
                  by flowing hydrocarbons to surface, typically 
                  through a test separator. Key measured parameters 
                  are oil and gas flow rates, downhole pressure 
                  and surface pressure. The overall objective is 
                  to identify the well's capacity to produce hydrocarbons 
                  at a commercial flow rate 
                --------------------------------------------------------- 
 oil field       an accumulation, pool or group of pools of oil 
                  in the subsurface that produces oil to surface. 
                  An oil field consists of a reservoir in a shape 
                  that will trap hydrocarbons and that is covered 
                  by an impermeable or sealing rock 
                --------------------------------------------------------- 
 

UKOG Licence Interests

The Company has interests in the following UK licences:

 
Asset               Licence     UKOG's        Licence          Operator         Area            Status 
                                Interest       Holder                           (km(2) 
                                                                                  ) 
                                                                                            Field currently 
Avington                                     UKOG (GB)        IGas Energy                   temporarily shut 
 (1)                PEDL070       5%          Limited             Plc           18.3               in 
-----------------             ----------  --------------  ------------------  --------  ---------------------- 
Broadford                                                                                    BB-1 & 1z oil 
 Bridge                                     UKOG (234)        UKOG (234)                  discovery, planning 
 (3)                PEDL234      100%         Ltd (4)           Ltd (4)         300.0     application approved 
-----------------             ----------  --------------  ------------------  --------  ---------------------- 
                                                                                           Seeking alternate 
                                                              Europa Oil                     sites to drill 
Holmwood                                                    & Gas (Holdings)               Holmwood and other 
 (3)                PEDL143       40%          UKOG               plc           91.8      Kimmeridge prospects 
-----------------             ----------  --------------  ------------------  --------  ---------------------- 
Horndean                                     UKOG (GB)        IGas Energy                   Field in stable 
 (1)                 PL211        10%         Limited             Plc           27.3           production 
-----------------             ----------  --------------  ------------------  --------  ---------------------- 
                                                                                           Production tests 
                                                                                          ongoing, two further 
                                            Horse Hill        Horse Hill                    appraisal wells 
Horse Hill                                  Developments      Developments                   scheduled for 
 (5)                PEDL137     50.635%         Ltd               Ltd           99.3              2019 
-----------------             ----------  --------------  ------------------  --------  ---------------------- 
                                            Horse Hill        Horse Hill 
Horse Hill                                  Developments      Developments 
 (5)                PEDL246     50.635%         Ltd               Ltd           43.6           As above 
-----------------             ----------  --------------  ------------------  --------  ---------------------- 
                                                                                          Preparing planning 
                                                                                             submission for 
                                                                                             Arreton-3 oil 
Isle of                                                                                      appraisal well 
 Wight (Onshore)                                                                           and Arreton South 
 (2, 3)             PEDL331       95%          UKOG              UKOG           200.0       exploration well 
-----------------             ----------  --------------  ------------------  --------  ---------------------- 
Markwells                                    UKOG (GB)         UKOG (GB)                      Well plugged 
 Wood               PEDL126      100%         Limited           Limited         11.2          and abandoned 
-----------------             ----------  --------------  ------------------  --------  ---------------------- 
 

Notes:

1. Oil field currently in stable production.

2. Oil discovery pending development and/or appraisal drilling.

3. Exploration asset with drillable prospects and leads.

4. Contains the Broadford Bridge-1 /1z Kimmeridge oil discovery, the eastern extension of the Godley Bridge Portland gas discovery plus further undrilled Kimmeridge exploration prospects.

5. Oil field with three productive and commercially viable zones, EWT ongoing, two further wells HH-1z and HH-2 scheduled in Q2 2019, development underway subject to grant of planning consent, expected in Q3 2019.

6. UKOG has a direct 77.9% interest in HHDL, which has a 65% interest in PEDL137 and PEDL246.

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact [e-mail] or visit www.rns.com.

END

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February 14, 2019 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)