Shares UK Oil and Gas (UKOG) have rocketed after Schlumberger, the world's largest oilfield services provider, said there was 271.4 million barrels of oil in a well at Horse Hill near Gatwick airport.
The AIM-listed company, controlled by David Lenigas, along with a group of other small explorers said earlier this year that they had uncovered a potential 158 million barrels of the black stuff per square mile - the biggest on shore discovery in decades.
The companies claimed there could be as much as 100 billion barrels of oil at the site.
The find has been met with plenty of skepticism, but UKOG said Schlumberger's independent assessment of Horse Hill, which estimated that there was 271.4 million of barrels of oil per square mile there, "adds further weight to the potential significance of the HH-1 well and the potential of the Horse Hill licence".
Schlumberger cautioned, however, that the estimate "should not be construed as recoverable resources or reserves".
Its shares leapt as much as 52% on the news. They were last up 7.5% at 2.85p.
A positive announcement had been widely expected as UKOG's shares were suspended earlier this week after closing up 18% on Wednesday.
