London-based Rose Petroleum Plc detailed updates on its Uinta Basin acreage in Utah on April 28.

Core results, to date, from the targeted Mancos Shale indicate the area is prospective. The full core analysis results are on track for second-quarter 2015, the company said.

The final authority to drill plan will be submitted in May to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), part of steps to get permits for six new Mancos wells.

HRL Compliance Solutions and Uintah Engineering completed the internal location site evaluation to meet environmental assessment requirements and are finishing reports to submit to the BLM.

The first well horizontal well at one of the six locations is scheduled to be drilled later this year. The Cisco Dome region has potential to be the best initial prospect.

The company said that the State 1-34 well hit a conventional zone under the Mancos that was unviable because the wellbore intersected a close, existing vertical fracture full of water. This exposed conventional zones to water, making them uncommercial, Rose said. This was first reported March 31 after this target was completed.

This vertical well cannot be used for the horizontal leg. A new location would have to be drilled laterally toward State 1-34, but the Cisco Dome area seems more reliable for production.