Gatwick oil: UK Oil & Gas share price rises 50% after 'significant' oil flow test at Horse Hill

UK Oil & Gas had previously estimated that there could be up to 100 billion barrels of oil beneath the south of England

A capped oil well sits in a container at Horse Hill well, the centre of last week's discovery (Getty Images)

Shares in the company that claimed to have made a discovery of huge quantities oil in the ground near Gatwick airport rose by as much as 50 per cent on Tuesday after early testing appeared to confirm "significant quantities of moveable oil".

UK Oil & Gas had previously estimated that there could be up to 100 billion barrels of oil beneath the south of England in areas such as the Weald Basin.

It has been testing the Horse Hill well, which is located near Gatwick airport, in recent months and on Tuesday said that after a first so-called flow test "sweet oil has flowed naturally to surface" from a section of the site.

Chief executive Stephen Sanderson said in a statement: “This is a very significant event for the company and for oil and gas activity in the Weald basin of southern England.

“The flow test... provides proof that significant quantities of moveable oil exist within the Kimmeridge section of the well.

“These flow rates are significant and in excess of management's expectations.”

Shares in UKOG, which owns just over 20% of the licence for the site, were last up 0.525p, or 37.5%, at 1.94p.