Biscathorpe exploratory conventional oil well site

Update 1 March 2021

Egdon is pleased to advise that on 26 February 2021 it has submitted an application to Lincolnshire County Council (“LCC”) as the Mineral Planning Authority, for planning permission for a side-track drilling operation, associated testing and long-term oil production at the Biscathorpe-2 Wellsite, High Street, Biscathorpe, Louth, Lincolnshire.  As the proposed development was screened by LCC as being EIA development, the application was accompanied by an Environmental Statement.

The planning application will now be validated before LCC commences consultation on the proposals.

Subject to receipt of planning and other consents, the Biscathorpe-2Z side-track conventional appraisal well could potentially be drilled in H2 2021 and would target the Dinantian Carbonate and Basal Westphalian Sandstone reservoirs.

Commenting, Mark Abbott, Managing Director of Egdon Resources plc, said:

“We are pleased to confirm submission of a thorough and robust planning application, completed within the expected timeframe despite the challenges of the current operating environment.  We thank our advisors and consultants for their thorough and professional work and look forward to updating stakeholders as the planning consultation progresses.

Biscathorpe represents a material and financially robust opportunity to secure an indigenous oil resource which would generate local and regional economic benefits and have a lower carbon footprint when compared to imported oil.”

Background

In March 2015 Egdon Resources U.K. Ltd, as operator of the licence area PEDL253, received temporary planning permission from Lincolnshire County Council to drill a conventional exploratory oil well on farmland to the west of the hamlet of Biscathorpe, approximately nine kilometres to the west of Louth in Lincolnshire. Please read on and refer to our dedicated Community Website

The proposals involved conventional drilling for oil and for clarity the operations at the site will not involve the process of hydraulic “fracking” for shale gas. This area of Lincolnshire does not have the specific rock-formation types that contain shale gas.

The site replaced a previous site approximately one kilometre to the east for which we withdrew a temporary planning application in 2013 after listening to feedback from local people.

In July 2017 Egdon announced the issue by the Environment Agency of the environmental permits to enable the drilling and possible subsequent testing operations at the Biscathorpe site.

In May 2018 Egdon received an extension of temporary planning permission from Lincolnshire County Council until December 2020.

LCC was then challenged by local activists as to the legality of their planning decision but this was dismissed in October 2018.

During August 2018 we updated the tenders for all materials and services including the rig with completion of the site construction commencing during October 2018.

Drilling operations commenced at Biscathorpe on 7 January 2019 and completed  20 February 2019. Preliminary analysis of the Biscathorpe-2 well (38.5% operated interest) indicates that the Basal Westphalian Sandstone target was encountered high to prognosis and was poorly developed at the Biscathorpe-2 location. The Biscathorpe “play” has therefore not been properly tested by the well and potential remains elsewhere on the prospect.

The open-hole section was sealed with cement plugs and the well suspended to retain the option for a potential future side-track which would require additional consents including planning permission. The drilling rig and ancillary equipment has been demobilised from the site.

On 15 July 2019 we announced that the results of the revised petrophysical analysis and the APT Report have upgraded the Biscathorpe-2 well result, confirming the likely presence of a 35 metre column, of good quality oil, within the Dinantian interval.  This along with the elevated gas readings and oil shows over an extended interval in the well are indicative of proximity to an effective petroleum system and validate the potential that exists within the PEDL253 licence area.

The primary target reservoir at Biscathorpe, the Basal Westphalian sandstone, was likely absent at the Biscathorpe-2 location and remains untested by the well. 

In March 2020 we announced that we are highly encouraged by the post-well evaluation of the Biscathorpe project area which has now benefited from an integrated assessment of the 2019 well data and reprocessed 3D seismic data. This work has concluded that a potentially material and commercially viable hydrocarbon resource remains to be tested.

Having retained the wellsite, the JV has maintained its optionality to pursue a cost effective side-track to test the resource potential of not only the Basal Westphalian Sandstone play but also to appraise the oil column demonstrated in the deeper Dinantian Carbonate reservoir.

In June 2020 we announced that a settlement had been reached with Humber Oil & Gas Limited on PEDL253 Biscathorpe. The joint parties to PEDL253 have therefore resolved the dispute arising under the JOA and look forward to co-operating in the future in the development of the licence.