Union Jack Oil has started the conventional drilling operations at West Newton, located within PEDL183 in East Yorkshire and within the Western sector of the Southern Zechstein Basin.

refinery-514010_640(1)

Image: Union Jack owns a 16.665% interest in PEDL183. Photo courtesy of John R Perry from Pixabay.

Union Jack Oil said that the West Newton A-2 appraisal well targets the Kirkham Abbey Shoal gas and Cadeby Reef formations for oil and was spudded at on 26 April 2019.

PEDL183 is operated by UK-based Rathlin Energy, and Union Jack owns a 16.665% interest in the area that contains the significant West Newton A-1 gas discovery with a gross Best Estimate Contingent Resource of 189billion cubic feet of gas equivalent within the Kirkham Abbey Shoal formation.

In addition, considerable upside potential is observed from the lower, Cadeby Reef formation, oil exploration target underlying the gas reservoir, and has a gross Best Estimate Prospective Resource of 79.1million barrels of oil equivalent.

The West Newton A-2 appraisal well is expected to be drilled to a total depth of approximately 2,061m below the ground level and is expected to take approximately 40 days to reach the total depth.

The company said that the West Newton A-2 appraisal well is fully funded and holds a combined probability of geological and commercial success in excess of 60% and 26% over the Kirkham Abbey Shoal and Cadeby Reef formations respectively.

David Bramhill, Executive Chairman of Union Jack, commented: “West Newton is a near term, and potentially high impact project which, if successful would deliver a major UK onshore gas development. The well is fully funded from existing cash resources, and in preparation of success, also funded for any long-term gas production test, plus further technical and initial conceptual commercial studies.

“We look forward to a safe and successful drilling campaign and to reporting preliminary results from the well to shareholders and the market when available.”

In January 2019, the company announced the starting of commercial drilling operations at Biscathorpe-2 well, located within PEDL253 in Lincolnshire, in which Union Jack holds a 22% license interest.

The Biscathorpe-2 Well is expected to be drilled to a total depth of approximately 2,100m below the ground level and would take approximately 30 days to reach the depth, targeting a structural/stratigraphic trap at a depth of over 1,800mts below Mean Sea Level, defined on re-processed three-dimensional seismic data.