The Directors of Egdon Resources plc (AIM:EDR) provide an update on drilling operations at the Kirklington site in its Nottinghamshire licence PEDL203.

The Kirklington-3 well was drilled directionally using the BDF28 rig to a total depth of 821 metres against a planned depth of 980 metres and encountered the target Chatsworth Grit sandstone significantly deeper than predicted.  The Chatsworth Grit was encountered below the interpreted field oil water contact with only poor oil shows seen and was interpreted as water bearing.  As such, a decision was made to curtail the drilling of the planned horizontal section and to cement back the well to allow the drilling of a sub-vertical sidetrack (Kirklington-3z) close to the original Kirklington-2 producer to gain additional data and enable restoration of field production.

The Kirklington-3z well reached a total depth of 698 metres on 10 February 2010.  The well encountered the Chatsworth Grit interval some 3.5 metres deeper than in the Kirklington-2 well which is located only 25 metres to the north-east. The reservoir was also thinner at 5.2 metres thick compared to 9.2 metres at Kirklington-2.  Drill cuttings through the interval had oil staining and good oil shows.  An open-hole completion has been run in Kirklington-3z to enable pumped production of the Chatsworth Grit.

The rig is currently being demobilised from site following which surface facilities will be reinstalled.  The next well in Egdon’s planned drilling programme is a sidetrack of the Keddington-2y well in Lincolnshire licence PEDL005 (Remainder).  This will now commence in March once all drilling preparations are completed at the site.

Commenting on the drilling results Mark Abbott, Managing Director of Egdon said:

“These results have shown that the Kirklington field is far more complex than our pre-drill information indicated.  We will be assessing the new information gathered to determine if further drilling activity and investment is warranted at Kirklington.  In the meantime we look forward to putting the Kirklington-3z well onto production through the existing facilities.”

Egdon is the operator and holds a 65% interest in the PEDL203 licence.  Joint venture partner Terrain Energy Limited holds a 25% interest in the licence and on completion of the on-going farm-in Angus Energy will hold a 10% interest.