Source: UK Onshore Geophysical Library
Documents seen by DrillOrDrop this evening suggest that drilling at the oil exploration site at Broadford Bridge in West Sussex has not gone according to plan.
The Oil and Gas Authority’s records show that the Broadford Bridge-1 well was side-tracked last month.
Another document, confirmed by the Environment Agency as the amended waste management plan, also refers to a mechanical side track.
These side tracks are often drilled at this stage to bypass problems with the original wellbore.
The documents help to explain why the drill rig is still at Broadford Bridge and flow testing hasn’t started.
When DrillOrDrop visited the site in June, UKOG executive chairman, Stephen Sanderson, said he expected to begin flow testing in mid July.
The rig was due to move to the Lidsey oil field near Bognor Regis. The documents also shed light on today’s announcement by Angus Energy that there would be a delay in drilling its horizontal production well at Lidsey.
The Broadford Bridge site near Billingshurst is operated by the UKOG subsidiary, Kimmeridge Oil and Gas Ltd (KOGL). It is exploring for oil in the Kimmeridge limestone.
According to the OGA public wellbore search, the mechanical sidetrack was spudded on 29 July 2017, and named BB-1z.
Screenshot from OGA Public Wellbore Search: https://itportal.ogauthority.co.uk/edufox5live/fox/edu/WONS_WELLBORE_SEARCH_PUBLIC
The amended waste management plan, dated 26 July 2017, gives some information about the reason for the sidetrack.
Screenshot of amended Waste Management Plan
It said the 8 ½” section of the original borehole is washed out, which means it “contains regions of diameter greater than the 8 ½” drill bit size.
The document said:
“It has not been possible to run the essential 7” steel casing in the 8 ½” hole section due to the washed out regions, so a side track is required for safety reasons”.
Yesterday (Wednesday 8 August), DrillOrDrop asked UKOG if a sidetrack had been drilled at Broadford Bridge, but it declined to comment. Today, we asked the company questions about the contents of the amended waste management plan and the impact of the side track on operations at Broadford Bridge but it has not responded.
In online forums, investors have been calling for information about Broadford Bridge from UKOG.
An UKOG statement on Broadford Bridge, issued on 31 July 2017 under the Regulatory News Service (RNS), did not refer to the sidetrack:
“All flow test regulatory permissions now in place follow review by the Health and Safety Executive (“HSE”). Work continues to “complete” the well as a potential oil producer to be followed by a rig-less flow test, encompassing multiple Kimmeridge zones over a total aggregate perforated section of 926ft”.
Updated 10/08/2017 to include screenshots from amended Waste Management Plan and link to OGA Public Wellbore Search tool
Categories: Regulation
DRILL OR DROP? 
A little question for the moderator. There seems to have been an adjustment to the timing of posts on the site. Have I missed something?
We now seem to have posts discussing one aspect, the discussion moves on, but someone posts a day or so later and that post is then placed back into the “one aspect” group. Has this always been the case? I don’t tend to look back at previous posts too much, as I am more interested in what is being discussed that is current, but have stumbled upon this. Is this by request of the posters or some other mechanism? (No sinister motivation from me, just interested.)
A new reply (to an earlier comment) will get nested with that earlier comment – on an earlier page if that’s where it was.
The nesting should show up in your browser as indents – which go to three or four levels deep (before going no further).
Don’t know if that helps answers your query Martin. The link back to older comments is always at the bottom of page (a niggle imo – it should also be at the top of the comments section).
I agree Philip. Unfortunately because we host the site at wordpress.com we are unable to modify how comments are handled.
Hi Martin
Sorry if you’re having trouble keeping track of new comments.
First, if you reply to a comment, your reply is slotted underneath the original, which may mean that your reply appears in the “Older comments” even though you have only just made it.
Secondly, comments by first-time contributors are held in moderation. Once approved they are then placed in the comments list according to when they were originally made. So if we are slow to moderate, a freshly “released” comment may appear way back in the stream.
Unfortunately we are not able to modify this behaviour.
Paul
Thanks PhilipP. I only noticed it from seeing a certain number of posts, going away and then seeing the number of posts had increased, then believing the discussion had moved on, only to find it hadn’t!
That’s the problem with us supporters of UK on shore oil/gas-we tend to look forward rather than back.
Talking of which, noticed Al Gore trying to up his dismal viewing stats. yesterday, doing the TV circuit. Where do these Americans get their haircuts?? Seems to be a major pollution issue brewing with the volumes of spray utilised-but it could be organic. Perhaps they should follow the style of Boris?
I don’t believe films on such topics are ever expected to be blockbusters Martin so that’s not the measure of their success . I’d find the most interesting critiques will only come from the who’ve actually seen the movie and can offer some observation of the points made.
You might be right PhilipP, only trouble is that if not viewed by many it not only indicates that many are indifferent, but that the critiques then come from a narrow base. Perhaps it is holiday season effect-bit like on here at the moment? Maybe when the fossil fuel has been thinned out from vacation travels, the antis will be back, fully refreshed.