(Alliance News) - Petro Matad Ltd said on Thursday the Gazelle-1 exploration well in the north of Block XX, eastern Mongolia, has been spud earlier than forecast.
The rig move from Heron-1 and the rig-up at the Gazelle location was handled "very efficiently" by rig owner DQE and by Petro Matad's in-field supervisors, and so spud of the well occurred a little earlier than previously forecast.
Gazelle-1 will be drilled to a total depth of around 2,500 metres and is forecast to take approximately 35 days to drill and log. The Gazelle prospect has an estimated mean prospective recoverable resource of 13 million barrels of oil.
"In the event of a discovery at Gazelle-1, it is expected that sufficient time will remain before the winter shut down of operations in late November to allow well testing of Gazelle-1 to be carried out this year," the company said.
Shares in Petro Matad were up 6.4% at 5.24 pence in London on Thursday.
Petro Matad (MATD)