Union Jack Oil (UJO) , a UK-focused onshore hydrocarbon explorer, issued an update on its 16.7%-owned West Newton project within licence PEDL183. West Newton is located onshore UK in East Yorkshire, within the Western Sector of the Southern Zechstein Basin, containing the West Newton A1, A2, and WNB-1z discoveries.
Union Jack said it has agreed a revised drilling programme for West Newton with its joint venture partners Reabold Resources and Rathlin Energy UK. Following several months of technical evaluation, the companies have settled on the West Newton "A" drilling site (WNA), with a proposed well WN-A3 planned for late 2024, to be twinned with the WN-A1 discovery well, which was not fully tested.
WN-A3 will be directional, offering significant cost savings compared to a horizontal well. An additional secondary target in the deeper Permian Rotliegend Sandstone will also be evaluated during drilling of WN-A3 or by reentry of WN-A1.
Union Jack said a feasibility study was underway for a single gas well development plan at WN-A3 to follow well completion. WN-A1 has already been interpreted as having a 27m gas column within the Kirkham Abbey formation.
David Bramhill, Executive Chairman of Union Jack Oil, commenting: "Together with our Joint Venture partners at West Newton, we have embarked on delivering a viable drilling programme, planned to be executed in late 2024, with the potential for an early single gas well development following successful testing.
We plan to expedite the drilling of West Newton with the deviated WN-A3 appraisal well as soon as all remaining regulatory permissions have been granted. Discussions are already underway with the relevant authorities and work has commenced to progress drilling."
View from Vox
A positive update from UJO on its West Newton joint venture project, detailing an early development plan for the WNA site to include a new WN-A3 well. Planning is already underway to drill and produce from WNA while approvals are being advanced. The revised plan is cost-effective with a good chance of success, promising a fast development scenario with access to significant early cashflow.
A feasibility study is currently underway by 3rd party consultants CNG Services on a single well development and gas export plan for WN-A3 to determine technical and economic viability. Production from WN-A3 is to be processed from a modular plant and a 3.5km pipeline from the WNA site to the National Transmission System at an existing above-ground installation.
Commercial gas production could be brought to market within months of a successful production test, resulting in a significantly reduced capex for the project. The secondary, deeper Rotliegend sandstone target offers additional potential upside to the value of the project. Overall, WNA targets a significant onshore gas resource in an area with excellent infrastructure connections and an attractive offtake market.
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